Fast Five: Breaking Down Today’s Difference Makers

Editor’s Note: Staff writer Steve Fini takes an in-depth look a five players who caught his attention during today’s game.

LeSean McCoy- What more can you say about him? I wrote earlier this week that I thought he would make a huge impact, but more so in the passing game…wrong. Although he had a receiving touchdown, he carried the ball like a true top-tier NFL back. Even though the holes weren’t always there, Shady made the correct cuts and still managed to gain positive yardage. So while tomorrow everyone will be talking about his 49-yard touchdown run, don’t forget the small gains he made when it appeared nothing was there. McCoy is quickly emerging as a top-five running back in the NFL.

Desean Jackson– Forget the contract talks. Jackson showed up and played. And he played well. Sure, he had a drop on what would have likely been an 88-yard touchdown, and if the Eagles would have lost this game we might be crushing him for that drop. But they didn’t and Jackson still managed to stand out in a variety of ways. There were several occasions today when the deep threat of Jackson softened the Rams’ defensive backs, preventing them from helping in run support. Teams try to keep him from going deep, which some say is his only route, yet he continues to make big catches.

Casey Mathews– Now for the negative. I’m not saying the Eagles should give up on the young linebacker. I’m not even saying bench him next week. But the Eagles need to start looking around just in case he doesn’t begin to make more progress. Throughout the preseason, Matthews biggest problem was that he consistently got swallowed up by blockers and over pursued runs. Today was no different. He got washed down on almost every run up the middle.

His instincts aren’t as good as the Eagles coaches told us they were. His size is an obvious problem and tackling is not his strong suit. It’s starting to seem like Juan Castillo is starting him moreso because he likes him as a person and competitor rather than for his abilities on the field. Mathews is going to have an even tougher matchup next week with Michael Turner, so we’ll see if he’s really gaining anything from this experience.

The offensive line (Eagles)– In the first half, they were pretty bad. In the second half, they seemed to start gelling. I think that’s exactly what everyone should have expected. As I said before this whole team, especially the offensive line, is going to take time to become what it needs to be. The Rams’ blitz caused problems for the young interior linemen early, but as the game wore on they began to click.

Having Brent Celek and LeSean McCoy used in the passing game leaves them susceptible to the blitz. And having Todd Herremans go from left guard to right tackle is a work in progress. Given the circumstances, the group receives a passing grade, but they need to continue to make progress.

Mike Patterson (DL/Eagles) –The defensive line produced five sacks, but they had an up and down day. Mike Patterson, in particular, really struggled. His primary responsibility is to stop the run and that didn’t happen in this game. With a small middle linebacker like Mathews, Patterson and the rest of the defensive line need to eat up blocks and allow the smallish linebacking corps. to fly around and make plays.

Defensive line coach Jim Washburn employs his “wide-nine” system that doesn’t place a premium on stopping the run, but but that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be a focus on stopping the opponents’ linemen from getting to the second level. It’s going to be important for Patterson to play next week, or Michael Turner is going to have a big game.