Eagles Cruise Past Rams

It wasn't pretty and it certainly wasn't a blow out, but the Eagles found a way to get it done against the Rams on Sunday winning by a final of 31-13. 

 Game Recap:

The game got off to a bad start for the Birds who allowed a touchdown to Steven Jackson in the Rams first offensive play of the game.  The Eagles linebackers over pursued and Jackson burst through the middle for a 50 yard touchdown.  Luckily that would be just about it from Jackson who had one more carry for about 8 yards but then left the game with a quad injury. 

In the Eagles' second possession, Mike Vick put together a fabulous drive high-lighted by a long pass to Desean Jackson and ending in a little shuffle pass to Lesean McCoy to tie the game at 7.  From there the Eagles looked a lot better defensively.  The D-line got great pressure on Sam Bradford forcing him to fumble, and Juqua Parker returned it for a touchdown to put the Birds ahead 14-7.  Going into the half the Eagles held onto a 17-10 lead.

In the second half, the Eagles continued to get pressure on Bradford and the linebackers seemed to get more and more comfortable as the game went along.  Midway through the third, Mike Vick finally connected with Desean Jackson for a touchdown to give the Birds a 14 point lead.  The Rams then responded with a field goal to make it a 24-13 affair.  With the lead, the Eagles began running the ball which eventually resulted in a 49 yard Shady McCoy touchdown to seal the deal.  The defense held firm against the Rams and the offense continued to kill the clock and the Eagles went on to win by a final of 31-13.   

The Good:

•  Juan Castillo adjusted, and after a terrible opening possession in whcih they allowed a touchdown, the Eagles D got better and better as the game went along.  
• In conjuction with Castillo's success, the defensive line did an outstanding job of getting after Sam Bradford.  Tapp forced a fumble, Cullen Jenkins and Trent Cole each had a sack, and Jason Babin had two sacks including a free rush in which he went in untouched.  All 5 sacks were made by the defensive line and the pressure applied by the D-line enabled the Eagles to drop 7 guys back in to coverage which stiffled the Rams offense. 
• Lesean McCoy and Mike Vick combined for over 200 yards rushing and Shady came up big especially at the end of the game.  
• Desean Jackson put his contract issues aside and cashed in on a big game netting 102 yards and a touch. 
• The offensive line seemed to get better as the game went along and they looked especially good on the run block.  

The Bad:

•  Third down penalties killed the Eagles' defense.  Three or four times the Eagles could have gotten off the field on third down but the drive was prolonged due to a penalty.  The Eagles need to limit their penalties especially on third down.  
• Again in the penalty department the Eagles had stupid delay of game calls that forced them into third and longs.  
• Although the Eagles clamped down defensively as the game went on, I'm still not fully confident in this run defense.  The linebackers need to learn not to overpursue and the defensive line has to do a better job of collapsing.   

Overall it was a great opening day victory for the Birds.  They certainly didn't look dazzling by any stretch but they did enough to get a W.  Next week they will head to Atlanta to take on the Falcons in a Sunday night prime time game.  Stay updated to the blog for predictions, Fantasy Fix: Week 2, and much much more on the Eagles week 2 matchup.