The Eagles were punched in the mouth and recovered to take a high-scoring 38-35 victory over the Lions in Week 1. His first seven minutes were a concern, but after that it basically went according to plan.
But the Eagles offense was really great!
(Defense… we’ll talk about it.)
I never get too excited about winning against a team like the Lions, but some things I saw on Sunday afternoon were very exciting and at times worrying. I draw some conclusions that are not:
1. I’m curious about Devonta Smith
AJ Brown is nice. nice, really good Pro Bowl level goodness. He’s… maybe too good?
If you’re Devonta Smith, you probably feel that way.
Smith’s rookie year was uneven, but ultimately productive, with Eagles fans staying away from his first 18 games and the team ending up a good draft pick at wide receiver after multiple whiffs. It made me feel like a professional.
But the chatter in training camp about Hearts and Brown’s friendship and his affinity for throwing the ball like Brown did in Detroit on Sunday. Thirteen of his 32 pass attempts for Hearts targeted Brown, while he only targeted Smith four times.
Smith dropped the first target of the game. This was an easy play that should have been a catch on the left sideline in the first quarter. Hearts only had one shot at him in his next two quarters, and there was a long period of time when Smith simply forgot he was on the field. That’s not great!
Between Brown as a clear WR1, Dallas Goudart as a borderline elite tight end option, and Jalen Hurts’ ability to create on his feet… exactly how much room does Smith have? Whether at end or wide receiver, pass catchers usually see big leaps from first to second year, but Nick Ciliaani keeps calling the offense like this and the Hearts keep seeing how Brown does it. And it feels like Smith’s growth could be stunted with all the dropbacks.
Frankly, it’s not a problem for the team. Brown is a superstar with great playing ability and a relentless motor that raises the Eagles’ ceiling significantly. I just don’t like Smith’s situation.
Clearly, this is just one game. Let’s see what Week 2 brings. But it’s something to monitor.
(Seriously, AJ Brown is very good.)
2. Why can’t the Eagles tackle or defend?
I know it’s still Week 1 and most of the Eagles’ starters didn’t make it into the preseason, but I didn’t like what I saw from Jonathan Gannon’s defense and their tackles. While the performance was sloppy in many respects, it was disappointing not to be able to close out a relatively routine tackle.
James Bradbury blew a tackle on the first drive of the game to bounce off Dundle Swift for a massive 48-yard run. This is the ugly first moment from the new Eagle. (He only made it up later.) Abonte Maddox had his ankle stolen by all-man Jared Goff in the third quarter in the red zone scramble. Swift made many Eagles mistakes with his 25-yard catch-and-run to start the fourth quarter.
It was a little ugly there!
The Eagles have had this problem for a while, but on Sunday they seemed a little better – Kyzir White made a great open field tackle and Marcus Epps lost with a great submarine tackle – but pretty basic. Don’t let inconsistent play keep happening. Against the Lions, it won’t burn you. Against a good team, it will.
Unstable tackling combined with Jonathan Gannon’s still-too-soft defensive approach (the Lions moved the ball too easily on multiple drives on Sunday) combined to arguably win a game that otherwise would have won. You get the perfect formula to bring your team back to , just like Sunday.
Birds have talent, but talent is only half the equation. Ganon needs to get better, both in coaching and strategy. Otherwise, you will have problems in the future.
3. Still waiting for Jalen Hurts to make the leap
This may just be who Jalen Hartz is.
He makes incredibly valuable plays with his feet. He can throw a solid, deep ball. He takes a little too long to make his decision. Sometimes he misses a guy wide open straight down the field.
He’s a good enough quarterback. can he be great? I’m still waiting
Hearts had a solid game on Sunday – 18-of-32 for 243 yards, 90 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground – but he wasn’t spectacular. good and bad.
We heard a lot during the offseason about how he could benefit from playing two years in the same offensive system and how he could step up his game with an improved supporting cast. But I can’t say I saw anything like it on Sunday. He still looks like the 15th quarterback in the NFL and might be good enough to win 11 this year, but he’s still not convinced he’s good enough to win multiple playoff games .
Again, like I said, this is a small sample size. We’ll see what the next few weeks bring. The team is still gelling. Perhaps in week 5 he will make a quicker decision. All I know is the one I saw on Sunday and it was totally fine.
Comments
Post a Comment