After a long summer of waiting, fans can rejoice because the NFL and Eagles football is back! Although it’s only the preseason, America’s favorite sport is back in action. On Thursday, the Philadelphia Eagles opened up their exhibition slate against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and here are the five most important takeaways from the game.
Highlights from the game are availible here.
Philadelphia Eagles Preseason Week 1 Takeaways
1. The Eagles defense is ready to dominate
From the sliver of first-team defense we saw out of the Eagles last night, they looked more than impressive. Early in the game, Fletcher Cox strip-sacked Jameis Winston and gave the first-team offense incredible field position to work with. Overall, the defense forced five turnovers (two fumbles and three interceptions).
2. Wentz is taking over, presumably sooner rather than later
Not often do we hear an uproar by an entire stadium in the closing minutes of the second quarter in a preseason game; it is reserved for only truly special moments for a franchise. It was with two minutes left in the second quarter that Doug Pederson gave Carson Wentz the nod to run the two-minute drill and take a few second-team reps before the half closed. Eagles fans were eager to see the man that they believe is the franchise quarterback of the future.
His first snap was an indication of another takeaway in itself. His lineman false started, setting the offense back five yards to make the drive harder. After that, Wentz took command of the field. He looked confident and poised in the pocket while facing pressure. Wentz wasn’t afraid to use his athleticism to extend the pocket and make big-time throws. While he faltered a couple of times, the intangibles he displayed justifies the high draft picks that were forked over to acquire him.
Another thing to note is that Chase Daniel looked awful. He could hardly complete a pass. To his defense, he was under pressure a majority of the time. Except, he was overthrowing targets even with time in the pocket. Unless the plan is actually to wait on Wentz, it’s quite possible that Daniel could lose the backup quarterback job.
3. The Offensive line weakness is a scary reality
When news broke of Lane Johnson‘s impending 10-game suspension, hearts sank in Philadelphia. It is well known that he is the cornerstone of the offensive–and ultimately the entire offense–this season. The unit was shaky to begin with, but the loss of the starting right tackle and future left tackle (to replace Jason Peters), could be extremely devestating.
As the preseason game progressed, the O-Line play got increasingly worse. A bad sign was that the Buccaner players were getting free shots at Wentz and knocking him down on many occasions. It was hard to watch as Wentz got crushed in the pocket, but it looked like he got his wish of experiencing his first NFL hit.
4. The Wide Receiver curse is still alive in Philadelphia
It’s amazing to think that the Eagles could struggle so much to find a corps of decent wide receivers that can at least catch the football. Last night was not a promising display from the wide receivers. Countless drops and miscommunication.
The only bright spot was wideout Paul Turner. He appeared to be Wentz’s favorite target when he was in. One impressive play was when Turner recognized that the linebacker covering him was going to blitz, so he called it out to Wentz, who then changed the play. Wentz snapped the ball and threw it to Turner, who turned the play into a first down. It was solid awareness from a young guy who could potentially make the practice squad this season.
5. Linebacker depth isn’t as big of a problem as anticipated
The linebackers looked really good in the outing. The starters were strong in the few snaps that they played, especially Jordan Hicks. Seeing more of the lesser-known guys enter the contest and positively produce was even more encouraging. One guy who really stood out was the team’s seventh-round draft pick, Joe Walker, from Oregon.
+One thing Eagles fans have learned is to never trust preseason success, despite the novelty effect with Carson Wentz making his first NFL appearance. It will be interesting to see if he can improve throughout August and maybe even snag the starting job from Sam Bradford over the course of the regular season.
Main Photo:
