Soaring High: Eagles Dominate Rams
Where do I start? How about with a nice video clip of my favorite hitting CB in the NFL, Sheldon Brown:
With that covered, let’s take a look back at yesterday’s great victory as our Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) now head to Dallas to face the Dallas Cowboys (1-0).
Offense: McNabb was simply spectacular. He started the season in fine fashion, on par with helping me be correct with my prediction that he will throw for 4000 yards and pass for 30 TDs. 1 game down, 15 to go with that prediction… He was on fire, completing 21 of 33 passes, lighting up the Rams Defense with 361 yards passing and 3 1st half TDs. He did well stepping up in the pocket and avoiding the rush, throwing spreading the ball nicely to his weapons.
Very quietly, Westbrook had a nice game. He had the TD reception in the first half and then really picked up steam running the ball in the second half, later adding a rushing TD as well. There were points in the game where I was wondering if Reid and company forgot about running the ball, but those thoughts quickly disappeared each time the Eagles lead grew by another 7 points.
The receivers stepped up and gave McNabb what he needed. Consistent players making the catches to keep the chains moving, or in Hank Baskett’s case, to add 7 points to the score when he hauled in a 90 yarder from McNabb shortly before half-time. What was impressive to me, but probably not much noticeable was the receivers’ down the field blocking. Whether blocking for each other after a reception, or for Westbrook on running plays, numerous times I looked up and saw the receivers blocking well. Additionally, I was pleased to see LJ Smith play with at a level that I hope to see from him consistently. LJ finished with 5 catches, which is a nice amount to receive from your West Coast Offense Tight End.
The Eagles Offensive Line had a great game as a total unit. They kept McNabb’s uniform clean as #5 was not sacked at all. They provided very good push upfront giving Westbrook time to hit the gap and average solid numbers.
Defense: The Eagles frustrated and confused Rams QB Marc Bulger and the rest of their offense all day. Bulger nor RB Steven Jackson got into a rhythm and the score shows that obviously. Most impressive was the fact that the Eagles defense basically shut out WR Torry Holt who was held to just 1 catch for a whopping 9 yards. The Eagles rotation on the defensive line did a solid job at containing Jackson as well as pressuring Bulger. DE/DT/LS Darren Howard didn’t a lot of tackles, but he did create some pressure, which helps me get over the fact we kept him and cut Jerome McDougle. The linebackers were steady. MLB Stewart Bradley handled himself well in a year where the Eagles linebackers really need to step up and contribute better than in past years.
The Eagles secondary were most impressive. Asante Samuels could have easily had two or three interceptions. One would have been returned the other way for a TD. Samuels, along with Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard were all over the field, as if the Rams were only sending out one eligible receiver with the Eagles covering him with 11 men. Safeties Brian Dawkins and Quintin Mikell played solid support coverage against the run and held their ground in the passing game.
Special Teams: Wow! Night and day is the comparison here for this year’s season opener versus last year’s loss versus Green Bay. I don’t want to remind Die Hard Eagles fans but last year, all the Eagles had to do was fair catch a punt and the game was their’s to win, but Greg Lewis (and not Brian Westbrook) didn’t and well, I will move on….
Punt Returner and Rookie Sensation DeSean Jackson was a breath of fresh air and brings a very much needed threat that the opposing teams will now have to game plan for. What Jackson also does is makes the offense and defense better simply by giving the Eagles better field position. He helps the offense by not making them have to work as hard if they have a smaller field to play with. He helps the defense assuming the offense is productive off of where he gives them better field position. Sunday, he was dazzling and came up on fire for his rookie debut. Besides catching over 100 yards, he also returned 8 punts for 97 yards including an exciting 60 yarder that made me hold my breath, not wanting to jinx anything by saying he was going to score. When something like a 60 yard punt return happens for the Eagles, I am used to something bad occurring immediately right after it, such as a penalty negating the return.
Another Rookie bringing hope to the Eagles’ Special Teams was Quintin Demps. Demps made two special plays on punt coverage that won’t show up in the stats today but made a huge impression on me. On one punt, he made a head’s up play, jumping into the end-zone and batting the ball back into play for the other Eagles to down the ball. It was most impressive.
Even Punter Sav Rocca did well. I cringe every time he is back there to punt, I must be honest. I was a Dirk Johnson guy last pre-season. Rocca only had to punt 4 times, but averaged a nice 41.5 yards.
So in conclusion, the Eagles did exactly everything (except a shut out!) that we Die Hard Eagles fans needed after waiting so many months for the season to start. They demolished the Rams and beat the Rams in every portion of the game. I don’t know about you, but I was nervous after every play, when the score was 31-0 and 38-0 and the Eagles still had first string players in there. I got to exhale after Westbrook and company were safely on the bench but that leads me to a question for Andy Reid. With the game obviously out of hand, even before it got to 31-0, what would have been the harm of starting to pull the 1st stringers and give the younger guys some reps and experience versus the Rams’ first string players? If this is McNabb’s final year (which I hope it is not), then getting Kevin Kolb in there before the 4th quarter would have been wise to me for more than just keeping McNabb safe and healthy, ready for another day, specifically next week versus those Dallas Cowboys.
With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!! EAGLES!!”
