Evaluating the Eagles’ Offense in Week 1 Victory at St. Louis Rams

It certainly was not pretty, but the Philadelphia Eagles got the job done on offense as they put up 24 points on the St. Louis Rams in their Week 1 31-13 win.

The offense ran 66 plays, with 35 coming through the air and 31 on the ground. While that looks balanced at first glance, a lot of those runs came in the fourth quarter when the Eagles had the lead and were trying to run out the clock.

And even then, up 18 points, head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator still tried to pass the ball.

Despite the final numbers, the same issues plague the Eagles’ offensive playcalling: not enough runs early on, not enough runs in short-yardage siuations, and the confusing play-action passes before establishing the run. Hey guys, no one is buying the play-action when you have yet to run the ball.

But let’s move away from a general view of the offense and take a look at the individual play of the guys on the offensive side of the ball.

— Michael Vick was not great. He made plays when he had to, but he completed less than 50 percent of his passes (14-32), threw for less than 200 yards (187), and lost a fumble. The fumble isn’t exactly his fault, but he’s got to feel pressure better. He did rush for over 100 yards (not counting taking a knee a couple times at the end), but overall Vick looked hurried, he seemed to aim the ball, and still has a lot of improving to do before he faces the Atlanta Falcons next week. This was far from “lights out.”

— Owen Schmitt dropped a pass out of the backfield, but that was all the notice he really got. Other than that, he did a decent job lead-blocking for LeSean McCoy when he was in the game.

— Speaking of LeSean McCoy, he was his usual explosive self. Mark this down right now, folks: McCoy is the best player on that Eagles offense. That includes Vick and any of the receivers. McCoy is an absolute weapon and must get a chance to touch the ball more early in the game. He scored on the ground and caught one, and was the dagger in the Rams’ collective heart.

— Ronnie Brown and Dion Lewis got a few carries collectively, and neither was overly effective with minimal touches. That doesn’t have to mean a whole lot, however, as I expect both guys to contribute this season.

— DeSean Jackson finished with 6 catches for 102 yards and one touchdown and overall had a very good day. But yet and still, Jackson continues to drop key passes. Dropping that beautiful pass from Vick up the sideline is inexcusable and something he will have to correct if he wants to be known as one of the best receivers in the game.

— Jeremy Maclin will clearly need a little more time. He had only 1 reception for 20 yards, but it could have been a lot more had Vick hit him in stride. Instead, Vick aimed the pass and Maclin was forced to go up for the ball and was unable to keep running. It could take a few weeks, but I expect Maclin to be Vick’s go-to guy again shortly.

— Vick’s other targets, Jason Avant and Brent Celek, were rather pedestrian. Avant finished with 3 catches for 40 yards, and Celek continued his disappointing slide with only 1 catch for 13 yards. Both missed key blocks on blitzes and got Vick sacked. I expect Avant to bounce back next week, but Celek’s slide has gone on a little too long and he might be regressing a la L.J. Smith.

— Todd Herremans and Jason Peters did a pretty good job pass-blocking on the edges. Run-blocking was a different story at certain points, but that seemed to get better as the game went on. Most of the pressure on Vick came from DB’s blitzing from the outside.

— Evan Mathis and Kyle DeVan also did a better job than I expected and, like Herremans and Peters, got better as the game went on. I do not believe this combination is good enough at the guard spots to get the Eagles very far and hope they’re both on the bench as depth guys shortly, but today they did just enough not to get Vick killed and took advantage of a worn-down Rams defense late and opened up some lanes for McCoy.

— I remain unimpressed with Jason Kelce. Physically, he was alright. He seemed to get in front of his guys and I cannot recall a time Vick got hit because of Kelce. He’s certainly a lot quicker than Jamaal Jackson, but I still do not believe he offers more as a blocker. The place where he struggled was mentally. It seemed like Vick was the guy making the calls for protection and Kelce was not doing a whole lot in that area. I could be wrong, but burning those three first-half timeouts likely fall on Kelce’s inexperienced shoulders.