5 Philadelphia Eagles Who Must Improve in the 2nd Half of 2014
The road to 5-1 has not been an easy one for the Philadelphia Eagles, with four of those victories coming down to the wire. Furthermore, the schedule appears to increase in difficulty from here on out, which means despite their strong record, postseason football is not assured yet.
The Eagles may have a ton of momentum coming out of an idle week. If they are really going to make a run at the playoffs, however, the squad must continue its growth—particularly a few key individuals.
To get to 5-1, a lot of players have had to perform at or near their personal ceiling. That being said, it’s probably fair to say a handful have fallen short of expectations, or simply need to do more if the Birds are going to have a shot to do some real damage in the tournament come January.
Ahead, we take a look at the five who may hold the key to pushing Philadelphia into the class of the NFC. The question you have to ask yourself as you read on, though, is whether every one of these players is even capable of improvement.
Nick Foles
1 of 4
Say what you want about Nick Foles, but he has not had it easy behind a patchwork offensive line, with pockets nowhere near as clean.
Even when Foles isn’t under pressure, at times the third-year signal-caller looks rushed, his hurried mechanics tending to result in inaccurate passes.
The good news is all of that is fixable. The offensive line is improving, plus reinforcements are on the way. Foles can feel comfortable again.
Yet none of it will matter if Foles doesn’t stop making careless or flat-out poor decisions with the football.
Some of his 10 turnovers can be explained away by the pass rush or an otherwise exceptional defensive effort, but several have been simply bad quarterbacking—including a few he got away with.
Obviously, nobody expected Foles to repeat last season’s historic campaign, when he threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles the whole season. Committing turnovers at a rate of nearly two per game, on the other hand, is beginning to tilt a little too far in the opposite direction.
It’s easy to forget this is only Foles’ third season in the NFL. Sunday will mark just his 23rd start. Young quarterbacks make mistakes.
Foles has to be allowed to make mistakes, too. Sometimes brutal mistakes, like both of the interceptions in Philadelphia’s Week 6 win over the New York Giants.
If we’re simply being honest about the Eagles’ prospects for this season, though, and not approaching this from the standpoint of evaluating Foles’ worthiness as a franchise quarterback, he must improve quickly.
The club has overcome a lot to reach 5-1, but consistently turning the ball over is a fast way to reverse a team’s fortunes.
Riley Cooper
2 of 4
To his credit, Riley Cooper has picked up the production in recent weeks. The fifth-year wideout is averaging five receptions and 48 yards over the last three games—two receptions and 25 yards better than the first three—not to mention he finally notched his first touchdown of the season.
Those might be reasonable numbers for a No. 2, except they come with a pair of asterisks.
First and foremost, Cooper hasn’t been a very reliable target in 2014. In fact, he’s had some downright awful drops, including the potential game-winner in an eventual loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Cooper left six on the board back in Week 2 as well, in what turned out to be a thrilling finish against the Indianapolis Colts.
In addition to dropping some pivotal passes, he hasn’t been nearly as effective downfield in his second campaign as a starter. Cooper’s 17.8 yards per reception were good for third in the NFL last year, fueled by his six receptions of 40 yards or more.
This season, Cooper is averaging 9.0 yards per catch and hasn’t caught a pass longer than 21 yards.
The Eagles don’t need Cooper to be a star, but it’s difficult to argue he’s had a meaningful, positive impact on the offense through six weeks. Yes, he came back down to earth toward the end of 2013, but Cooper is leaving plays out on the field, and frankly, he can do better.
Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher
3 of 4
Chip Kelly was still fired up the day after the Eagles’ 27-0 shutout victory over the New York Giants in Week 6.
When asked whether the defense’s stifling pass rush was the explanation for Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher’s improved play in the win, the head coach shot back at the scrutiny of his starting cornerbacks, as transcribed by PhiladelphiaEagles.com:
“One thing we try to do is tune that out. As a coaching staff we've been very, very comfortable with Cary and Fletch, and I thought they played very well again.”
Williams and Fletcher aren’t as bad as their reputation around Philadelphia, but “comfortable” is not how I would describe the Eagles’ cornerback situation, let alone, “very, very.”
Sure, they played well in the win over the Giants, but opposing signal-caller Eli Manning was under siege on virtually every dropback. Few passing plays even had time to develop.
The rest of the time, Eagles cornerbacks have been perfectly beatable. On an objective scale, metrics site Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranks Williams and Fletcher 52nd and 35th, respectively, out of 70 qualifiers in opponent passer rating.
The fact of the matter is they are average cornerbacks providing average cornerback play—but don’t expect any change.
Previously, defensive coordinator Bill Davis “promised” Zach Berman for The Philadelphia Inquirer that the Eagles would make a change “if there was a change to be made,” but apparently he does not see reserves Brandon Boykin or Nolan Carroll as potential solutions.
That means Williams and Fletcher will continue to get the call. We already know what they have to offer, yet somehow they have to improve.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Nate Allen
4 of 4
At some point during the 2013 campaign, Nate Allen transformed into a serviceable, dare I say, dependable safety. The Eagles secondary was not beaten over the top often, particularly during the second half of the season. Allen was largely responsible.
Unfortunately, while Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher are often the focus of negativity, a number of this season’s biggest plays against Philadelphia’s defense through the air could not be pinned on the corners. As it turns out, Allen hasn’t been nearly as reliable this time around.
Williams in particular has been hung out to dry by Allen on a couple of long touchdowns, most notably an 81-yarder by DeSean Jackson in Week 3 against Washington.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia has already allowed six completions of 40 yards or more this season—only three teams have surrendered more—and Allen has had a hand in more than one.
The good news is Allen hasn’t been bad—that is, when he’s not biting on the underneath routes and forgetting when he’s the last line of defense.
Wait. That’s his main responsibility.
The Eagles secondary has enough issues without Allen giving away the entire field once every other game. The defense has to at least force opponents to earn it, and that starts by shutting down the huge gainers. Cleaning that up starts with Allen.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
