Uh yeah, complete domination by the Falcons over the Eagles. The Birds were beat in every facet of the game, unless you think being tied with 6 penalties is OK. The positives? No turnovers! But no take-aways either, so that's a wash. I really don't have much to say about the numbers in this game; they speak for themselves. The only thing surprising about the 30-17 score is that it wasn't worse. The Falcons scored touchdowns on their first 3 possessions, and then added field goals on their next 3 before FINALLY punting for the first time on their 7th possession (with 7:18 left in the 4th quarter, mind you). By contrast, the Eagles scored on only 3 of 8 real possessions. Let's move on, shall we?
Just based on the overall time of possession, it is clear who controlled the ball. The Falcons held onto the football for 6 minutes more than the Eagles, but that wasn't even the worst of it. The Falcons had the ball for a whopping 13:02 of the first quarter, only allowing the Eagles one possession. To make matters worse, they also had the ball for 10:12 in the 3rd quarter, allowing for 2 short Eagles possessions. The Eagles did control possession in the 2nd and 4th quarters, but that's partly due to their overly long touchdown drives of 7:14 and 7:39. Bottom line is that the Eagles did not capitilize on their possessions and instead let the Falcons start out with an insurmountable lead.
Not too much else to talk about here; the defense played their worst game of the year and the offense once again underperfomed. You'd think that the Eagles played a sloppy game, but they still got outplayed despite not turning the ball over and only comitting 6 turnovers (4 of which gave a Falcons first down). This game wasn't even close, which is made worse when you consider the Eagles had 2 weeks to prepare. They need to turn around their season FAST if they expect to make the playoffs.
Miscellaneous
-LeSean McCoy didn't have enough carries, yet again. I understand not having many late in the game due to the huge defecit, but he wasn't getting enough carries early in the game.
-Playcalling seems pretty awful. Way too many passes on 1st down, runs on 2nd and long, and pass plays on 3rd and short.
-Like I said last week, Juan Castillo was the scapegoat. Without him, the Eagles proceed to let up the most points they have all year.
-BUT the defense finally recorded a sack! (7:23 in the 3rd quarter) It had been over 3 games since the last one.
-Vick played OK. Certainly not bad enough to warrant Nick Foles being the starter. Vick still gives this team the best chance to win; this loss isn't on him as others had been.
-Where are DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin? The big plays seem to be few and far between this year.
-The Eagles will have a tough opponent next week in the New Orleans Saints, and the defense is going to be key. With a loss, the Eagles could very well never recover this season. Luckily, the Saints also played like shit last week.
-Out of 7 games thus far, the team winning the possession battle has won the game. Not shocking, but surprising TOP is 7-7 as an indicator
(Falcons at Eagles PDF)
Last week vs. Lions: L, 26-23
Next week: at Saints, Monday, 8:30pm
No comments:
Post a Comment