5 Things We Learned from the Eagles: Preseason Week 1

The much-anticipated Chip Kelly era has finally begun. That is, the preseason has started.

The Philadelphia Eagles hosted the New England Patriots on Friday night, just days after the two teams completed a pair of training camp practices together.

The Patriots came away with a 31-22 victory, but an Eagles' loss was probably to be expected. After all, the Patriots had Tom Brady playing for the first couple of offensive drives, and they're a much more complete team than the Eagles.

There are many takeaways from the game, both positive and negative. The following slides will highlight, in no particular order, five things learned from the game.

1. Quarterback Competition Is Far from over

Both Michael Vick and Nick Foles had their chance to shine in Friday's game against the Patriots. Both Vick and Foles came through with impressive performances.

Vick delivered what appeared to be a knockout punch when he tossed a perfect 47-yard strike to DeSean Jackson for the Eagles' first touchdown of the game. He exited the game with 94 passing yards and a perfect passer rating. He also didn't take a sack.

But Foles equaled the veteran when he led a quick and methodical touchdown drive, culminating in an eight-yard touchdown run by Bryce Brown. Foles completed five of six passes for 43 yards. He was sacked once, but he added a 10-yard run.

No quarterback distanced himself on Friday night. Since both played well, very well, in fact, this is a good thing. The controversy continues.

2. Matt Barkley Appears to Be All but Done in the QB Competition

Rookie Matt Barkley has been seeing very minimal first-team reps at practices. His opportunity to shine was in the first preseason game, as Barkley saw more playing time than both Vick and Foles.

Barkley didn't take advantage of the extra time. He didn't play poorly, but he wasn't impressive either. I'd call him average for a rookie fourth-round draft pick appearing in his first game action. And unfortunately, that's not enough for Barkley to warrant any additional first-team reps in the future.

Barkley finished the night by completing 11 of 22 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. He got better as the night went on, completing his final five passes. But he misfired badly on a few throws and led the Eagles to just a single scoring drive in about 21 minutes of game action. That's about average.

To separate himself in the quarterback competition, Barkley needed to be above average on Friday. In fact, since both Vick and Foles were also above average, he needed to be excellent.

He wasn't. My pick to enter the season as the starting quarterback appears all but certain to become the third quarterback.

3. Bryce Brown Is the 2nd-Best Running Back

During training camp, it appeared that Chris Polk had taken the backup running back job away from Bryce Brown. He started receiving the majority of the first-team reps when LeSean McCoy missed some time, according to Shiel Kapadia and Tim McManus of phillymag.com.

But Brown easily outperformed Polk during the first preseason game. He rushed five times for 22 yards and a touchdown, including an impressive eight-yard burst that included a broken tackle at the goal line.

Meanwhile, Polk carried just four times for seven yards.

The race is far from over, but Brown proved on Friday that he deserves to at least be in the lead for the backup position. 

4. Lane Johnson Looks Ready

Many eyes were on the Eagles' first-round draft pick as right tackle Lane Johnson took the field for the first time against the Patriots.

Johnson participated in just 21 snaps, but he played very well. Pro Football Focus rated him as a plus-1.0, the team's second-best lineman for the game. In particular, he did a very good job as a pass blocker.

Johnson is not Danny Watkins 2.0, as Philly.com's Jeff McLane says. Johnson will likely struggle as a rookie, because most tackles do, but he doesn't look lost out there on the football field, despite just switching to the position a few years ago. 

5. Billy Davis' Defense Looks Brutal

The Eagles defense looked exactly like it did throughout the 2012 season, despite switching defensive coordinators, changing defensive schemes and adding a slew of new players via free agency (and getting rid of many old veterans).

The Patriots gashed the Eagles, running 31 times for 248 yards. That's a ridiculous 8.0 yards per carry. This includes a 62-yard sprint by Stevan Ridley on the first offensive play of the game and a winding, twisting, highlight-reel 51-yard touchdown run by LeGarrette Blount (ironically, one of Chip Kelly's former players).

Through the air, Tom Brady was absolutely masterful. He completed 7 of 8 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown. He led scoring drives on both possessions that he played. 

The Patriots scored 31 points during the game, but scored 24 in the first half before coasting to an easy victory. 

The Eagles clearly have a lot of work to do on defense. The pass rush looked solid, but the tackling was atrocious, with 13 missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and the secondary was brutal. 

It could be a long season for the defense. At least we expected this.