Grading The Eagles: Week 2

(Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Two weeks in, and for the Eagles, there may be as many questions as there are answers.  Then again, they did play against the most prolific offensive machine in the NFL, and tried counter-punching with a QB making his first career start.  We must give Kolb some credit, though, as he played a great first half, only starting to falter when the green-birds fell behind early in the second. 

 The defense was the complete opposite of last week’s unit, but that could (and should) be contributed to going up against arguably the best QB in the NFL, and not having your starting QB to keep your own defense on the sidelines and get a much needed breather.

Defensive Stats - Quick Hits: Sacks – INT-1 FF-1 SACK-2

D-Line:
The D-Line did hold their own against the rushing attack for New Orleans, but still gave up over 100 yards.  The reason they are being graded as a C+ is because when it counted most, like on Reggie Bush’s 19-yard TD run in the 4^th, they couldn’t get it done.  They were over-matched by the offensive line of NO all day, and only created two sacks.  That is not Eagles football, and Sean McDermott had a rude awakening about what needs to be done to get at elite quarterbacks.  Overall, the D-Line needs to perform better, period.

Grade: C+

LBs:
The line backing corps looked tired all day, and most likely, they were.  The Eagles defense could not come up with a big stop at any point during the game, forcing only 3 punts and 1 turnover.  The line backers were picked apart by Brees, and allowed Shockey to average over 10 YPC.  Heath Evans got a questionable TD call, but I still put the blame for that on the LBs for not being in the right spot, and not making the tackles.  Again, the LBs need to do some work to prepare for KC next week.

Grade: C

DBs:

After raving about the DBs last week, they left a lot to be desired after their performance against the Saints.  Again, I feel that Drew Brees has the ability to make even the best defenses look pedestrian, and I think he proved that against an Eagles squad on Sunday.  The DBs played horribly.  They couldn’t tackle.  They couldn’t cover.  They couldn’t tip a god-forsaken pass to breakup a TD pass where Colston was blanketed.  I was disgusted with how they played as a unit.  On the bright side, Macho Harris is showing that he was worth the 5^th round pick, and now is ready to continue as a starter in our safety slot.  He had a FF and seemed to be where he needed to be on almost every play.

Grade: D

All in all, the defense got worked this week.  There are many factors that caused this, including fatigue from being on the field too often, and the sheer talent on the offensive side of the ball for the Saints.  Hopefully they learn from this, and if/when we meet the Saints again, something different happens.

Offensive Stats - Quick Hits: TDs-2 Players with at least 1 Rec-7 Rushing Avg: 3.82 YPC

Just looking at the quick hits of the stats…Kolb did a good job at spreading

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