Philadelphia Eagles vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Final Game Notes

The Philadelphia Eagles opened up week one of the pre-season beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-9 under the lights at Lincoln Financial Field.

With quarterback Chase Daniel unable to entertain the fan base, fans began to chant “We want [Carson] Wentz” chants midway through the second quarter of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ first pre-season game. Daniel wasn’t the only problem on offense, though.

The second team offensive line played very poorly and the wide receivers didn’t help much either. Despite some ugly play, some of the Eagles who are competing for spots on the roster played well. Here’s some quick notes from the Eagles’ first week of pre-season action:

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Eagles

The First-team defensive line is off to a hot start

Entering the season, there was plenty of hype srrounding the Eagles’ personnel being a match made in heaven for the Jim Schwartz scheme, and it didn’t take long for those “fastballs” to start flying after the 2015 No. 1 overall pick, Jameis Winston.

During the Bucs’ second possession, Fletcher Cox stripped and recovered the football from Winston deep in Tampa Bay territory. On the prior possession, the Eagles’ defense forced the Bucs to a three-and-out. The Eagles’ first team defensive line seemed to be getting penetration together as a unit, and it will be interesting to see if they can keep this up throughout the pre-season.

To the Wide Receivers: Where are you guys?

This may have been the biggest blunder of the game for the Eagles.

Their receivers were nearly missing for the entire first half, and when Josh Huff did get an opportunity, he fumbled the ball on a crossing route over the middle late in the second quarter.

Huff wasn’t the only one who contributed to the drop fest. Daniel threw a nice ball to Rueben Randle on 3rd and 12 late in the second quarter that he couldn’t hold on to (even though that wasn’t ruled a drop). Once Wentz entered the game with just over a minute left in the first half, Nelson Agholor and Zach Ertz also dropped catchable passes.

The Eagles lead the league in drops last season with 37, and that could very well be the case this season too if this trend continues. Randle, Huff, Agholor and Chris Givens combined for three receptions, for 11 yards, on nine targets against Tampa Bay.

Offensive line struggles

With the Eagles possibly losing starting right tackle Lane Johnson to suspension and left tackle Jason Peters‘ health becoming an issue, moving the ball on offense won’t come easy for the Eagles. Fans got a glimpse of that tonight.

The Eagles had 78 total offensive yards at halftime, and 22 of those came off of Wentz’s five play drive before the end of the half. The second team offensive line allowed Daniel to get sacked four times for a loss of 19 yards. Granted, on some of those possessions they were facing the Buccaneers’ first team defense, however, they’ll be facing similar defenses on any given Sunday during the regular season.

Defensive backfield competition

In the Eagles’ first unofficial team depth chart, Leodis McKelvin and Ron Brooks were listed as the starters at cornerback, and the second team didn’t do much to change that against Tampa Bay. Brooks made a nice tackle out of the nickel formation on Adam Humphries on 3rd and three early in the first quarter to force Tampa Bay to punt.

As for the competition between Jalen Mills and Eric Rowe, neither really helped their causes in the first week of the pre-season. Mills, in his first action in the NFL, seemed to being playing nervous as he continued to reach against wide receivers in coverage.

Mills also got called for pass interference on 3rd and three midway through the second quarter on a pass intended for Kenny Bell from Tampa Bay’s own 35-yard line. He later got burned by Russell Shepard for 30-yards on Tampa Bay’s following possession.

Rowe got beat by Vincent Jackson early the first quarter for 17-yards, while he also looked to be out of position in coverage. 2014 fourth round pick Jaylen Watkins, on the other hand, had himself a pretty solid game playing safety. The former Florida Gator had a couple pass breakups against tight ends in coverage. He took a nice step forward for the backup safety position, an underrated position battle for the Eagles.

Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod are set to start, but behind them, the reserve spots are still up for grabs, and Watkins might work himself into that role if he continues to produce.

Wentz makes his debut

Head coach Doug Pederson threw a curveball at the end of the first half by letting Wentz make his Eagles debut. Wentz entered the game and immediately made heads spin with athleticsm as he stepped in the pocket and delivered a laser to Ertz for 19-yards.

Some drops did hurt Wentz’s efforts, but he did have a solid outing. On the night, he was 12/24, on 89 yards and one interception. He also rushed the ball three times for 15-yards. The interception was a miscommunication between Wentz and his receiver, which is going to happen for a rookie quarterback early on in a new offense. Still, overall in his debut, one can understand why the Eagles leap frogged up the draft board to nab him.

He displayed his cannon of an arm and ability to create plays on his own numerous times against the Buccaneers. On the first possession of the second-half, Wentz faced 3rd and 11 from the Eagles’ own 24 yard line. He avoided the pressure as the pocket began to break down, rolled to the right and hit Paul Turner one-yard shy of the first down. Wentz may have not gotten the first, but even in that, the play showed another reason why Eagles fans have a reason to be optimistic, and once he gets Pederson’s system down, he could be a become a dangerous player for the Eagles in the future.

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