***
That was an ugly game. Sometimes the scoreboard in a preseason game can give you a false read. We lost 23-15. The only false thing about that might be that the score should have been wider in Indy's favor.
I was extremely disappointed with the amount of mistakes made. The only good thing is that everyone shared part of the blame. The offense was sloppy. The defense seriously struggled at times. Special Teams play was error prone as well. We had veterans and young guys making mistakes. This was truly a team effort.
Let's get onto some random tidbits:
* King Dunlap was okay at LT. He got beaten by Dwight Freeney for a sack and FF. King had good position on the play, but didn't get his arms up. How the hell do you expect to block a DE with your hands low and close to your body??? This has been a continual problem for King. Use your long arms, dude. You're driving me crazy.
* Leonard Weaver left early with a knee injury, but Spadaro says it isn't serious. They don't even need to do an MRI. Great news.
* I didn't focus much on Justice.
* Jeremy Maclin did not have a good game. I wanted to see him improve from last week, not regress.
* DJax had a long TD catch. That was fun to watch, but didn't really tell us much. He split a couple of backup Safeties for a 39-yd TD. I'd rather have seen a methodical drive and Red Zone TD.
* Both Eldra Buckley and LoBo had down games. Buckley had a fumble and drop. LoBo had a poor run on 4th/short. I was happy that Buckley was the first of the two to play with the offense.
* TE Rob Myers actually looked pretty good. That was encouraging. We might have found a guy with some potential.
* QB Adam DiMichele had a good game. He lacks functional arm strength for the NFL, but I enjoyed watching him get out there and compete. He played with a lot of spirit and that can be infectious with backup players. Adam is a good athlete and that showed as he ran around and made some plays with his legs.
* MLB Joe Mays didn't stand out. He missed an easy tackle of a RB. He should have recovered a fumble, but the ball got away from him.
* CB Ellis Hobbs is really destroying any good will he had with Eagles fans. Hobbs missed an easy 3rd down tackle that would have led to a punt. He was partially to blame for a blown coverage that led to a long Reggie Wayne TD.
* DE Jason Babin wants to make the team. And he just might. He was good last week and even better tonight. This is what the other guys on the team need to do.
That's it for now. I'm going to start watching the tape. These are always long nights.
Here's the link to the Gamebook:
http://www.nfl.com/liveupdate/gamecenter/54740/IND_Gamebook.pdf
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Thursday, August 20, 2009
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8 comments:
"Mays will get a tough test from the Colts offense. They run a lot of stretch plays. That requires the linebackers to do a lot of running because the plays go to the outside. Mays isn't the fastest guy so it will be interesting to see if he can get out wide and make tackles before the running backs get much yardage."
And how did he do with this?
However, facing Peyton and the Colts, as you pointed out has historically been more than difficult. Our D seems to be their favorite dinner. I'm just glad that it was the PS.
I did see Mays really thump a lead blocking OL one play, he took him out and then got a piece of the ballcarrier. thats the kind of physical play I want to see from someone named the headbuster.
In defense of King, he may not have had good technique on that play but that spin move was absurd. Freeney was like a tornado on that.
And when playing a run first team, a headbuster is just what is called for. May not be the top priority against the Colts. BB tends to change the whole look of his D for Colts' games, but that's an argument for when we are playing them next
Say what you want about Tra Thomas, but his biggest strength was that more often than not, he was the hammer, rather than the nail, on pass plays. (That he had a pass blocking mentality on running plays also is another discussion).
King David has got to improve that initial punch, or at least develop one. And he especially struggled when the DE lined up more than a step outside his left shoulder. Still, you can see the raw potential there.
One disturbing trend that seems to be carrying over from last season is the lifeless 1st quarters. It drove me nuts waiting for them to wake up during games last year.
Of course, you could argue that they just had a lifeless 4 quarters last night.
It would have been nice if they had lined up a man over the slot guy. The first play, he went completely uncovered. That was too easy. That's on Mays, or whoever the MLB may be. They did it again to the other side and a DB came over late. They still didn't have it together.
From the TV I was watching it always seemed like the Eagles defense was ignoring at least one receiver. It's funny how Manning always found that guy.
McNabb had one nice pass. The rest sucked. I am ready for the Vick Era to begin!!!
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