Section 215
Fansided

Eagles Armchair: The Young Guys Have Stepped It Up

By Tucker Bagley

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The most comprehensive weekly look at the Philadelphia Eagles on the internet.

WALK THROUGH

When Chip Kelly assumed control of the Philadelphia Eagles, he dominated the free-agent market. It was a fair to assume guys that he signed to lucrative deals such as DeMarco Murray and Byron Maxwell would be the guys leading this team down the stretch and into the playoffs.

But Murray has gone from rushing champ to afterthought and Maxwell has been good, but certainly not a game changer.

Instead, players such as Eric Rowe, Nelson Agholor and even Ed Reynolds stepped up to make big plays as the Eagles were able to squeak out a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills in LeSean McCoy‘s return to Philadelphia. And now, the Eagles future success will be dictated by the performance of young players. 

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Rowe was consistent all game, showing more signs of improvement, registering a pass deflection along with four tackles while being tasked with covering Sammy Watkins. It was a tall order, but something the rookie was ready for.

“Yeah, when I was manned up against [Watkins], I felt like I did a pretty decent job not letting him get over my head,” Rowe said after the game. “I mean, he did catch a couple of comebacks, but that is not going to lose us the game. It did build my confidence going into next week.”

Agholor, the Eagles 2015 first-round draft pick, caught a 53-yard touchdown pass from Sam Bradford in the second quarter to put the Eagles up 14-7. After struggling for much of the season, the Southern California product admitted it was relief to finally make a big play in midnight green.

“It helps your confidence, you know,” Agholor explained. “Now you’re eager for more. But at the end of the day, we’re in a position right now where we want to win football games. So if it means that I have to score for us to win or block, whatever, I’ve got to make more plays for us to win games.”

The maturity of the Eagles top draft prospects has been impressive and so has their ability to come up big when the team needs them most as it tries to make a final push to the playoffs. But it was an adjustment by Reynolds that finally sealed the game for the Eagles late in the fourth quarter.

In he first half, Watkins beat Maxwell badly on a go-route, and Reynolds was late with the help over the top, allowing Watkins to scamper 41 yards into the end zone. So on third and eight with the game on the line, Buffalo dialed up a similar look. Only this time Reynolds was ready.

“As a defensive backfield, we pride ourselves on being able to go up and get the ball,” Reynolds said. “I felt like I should have made more plays earlier on like the fade they scored on early in the game. I told those guys after that play that that one was on me and I’m going to make all the rest of them. The play came to me, and I went up and got the ball.”

That defensive backfield will have a tall task in front of them next week when they go up against Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals, a receiver and a team that the Eagles have historically struggled against.

But if the first 13 games of 2015 are any indication, precedent doesn’t mean anything to this Eagles team.

INJURY REPORT

For the first time all season, the Eagles have all 53 men on their roster fully healthy. Jordan Matthews suffered a bit of a health scare late in the week when his back tightened up, but he played yesterday with no limitations. Jason Peters also seemed to hurt his ankle during the game, but only sat out for one series before returning. If the Eagles can remain healthy down this final stretch, it will give them a big advantage over the other teams in the division who are limping to the finish line. Once again, sports science works.

MEASURABLES

11 – McCoy was held to just 11 rushing yards in the second half, after torching the Eagles defense for 63 yards on 12 carries in the first half. It sounds great, but when you consider he had a pair of big runs called back due to holds by his offensive line, the Eagles weren’t as dominant in the second half as some might think.

Related Read: Five Big Picture Takeaways From Eagles’ Win Over Bills

222 – Tyrod Taylor had thrown 222 consecutive pass attempts without being intercepted before Reynolds picked him off to close out the game. That’s right, a guy who hadn’t been picked off since week four had a pass intercepted by a player who wasn’t even on the Eagles 53-man roster four weeks ago. Just as everyone expected.

37 – The Eagles capped off a two-play, 37-yard drive in the second quarter with that 53-yard touchdown pass from Bradford to Nelson Agholor. Yes, you read that correctly. After a pair of holding penalties on first down, then a four yard run from Darren Sproles, the Eagles were faced with second and 26 at their own 47 yard line. Then Bradford hit Agholor on a deep post route for six points. Only the Eagles could pull off something as ridiculous as that.

SECTION 140

Despite all four running backs being active and getting snaps, Kenjon Barner did not get a single touch. Ryan Mathews had 15 touches, DeMarco Murray had 13 and Sproles had nine. A lot of people speculated that Murray’s touches would continue to wane, unless he could become more productive, but it looks like Kelly still believes in the defending rushing champ, for now. 

Alonso has struggled mightily all season, but it seems like he has started to turn a corner, showing flashes of the guy who won Rookie of the Year in Buffalo two seasons ago. However, if Buscaglia’s analysis is correct, and considering he’s watched more Bills games than any of us have, there’s no reason to doubt him, maybe Alonso’s issues are more than just a sore knee. Alonso doesn’t strike me as an incredibly intelligent football player, he’s instinctual, but he’s at his best when he can fly around the field and make plays. The only problem is, that is also Mychal Kendricks‘ strong suit. Hopefully next season, with another off-season of healing and the re-addition of a defensive quarterback like Jordan Hicks, Alonso will look like a guy worthy of being traded straight up for McCoy. 

No one does it better than Merrill Reese. Or Fletcher Cox, for that matter.

WEEKLY AWARDS

The Jerome Brown Memorial Award – Fletcher Cox

How great is Cox? A week after being credited with eight (!!) QB pressures, he absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage for 60 minutes, picking up eight tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. After the game Rex Ryan made it a point to compare Cox to the late, great Jerome Brown.

“I was laughing when I saw him being compared to Jerome Brown, but I’m not laughing now,” Ryan said after the game.

Now, I haven’t heard anyone publicly compare Cox to Brown, but that is incredibly high praise for 25-year-old. Cox will be a free-agent following next season and the Eagles need to lock him up soon, because his price tag is sky-rocketing after each game.

An Award For Special Teams Greatness – Donnie Jones and Caleb Sturgis

Jones has been so consistent since coming to the Eagles in 2013, but yesterday may have been his best performance. He had seven punts and averaged 50.4 yards per kick. His punt following Bradford taking an inexplicable sack at the end of the game put the Eagles defense in a position where they didn’t have to worry about giving up short completions and letting the Bills into field goal range.

Sturgis was a perfect three for three on his field goal attempts and allowed only one of his kickoffs to be returned. The former All-American has played rather well the past few weeks and will either challenge Cody Parkey for his job during training camp next season or get an opportunity somewhere else.

NO HUDDLE

  • I may be in the minority here, but it really bothers me how upset everyone is with McCoy right now. He didn’t shake hands after a loss? Guess what, he never does that. I find it amazing that all of these writers and teammates of him had no problem with Shady’s swagger when he was here, but now call him immature and childish. Really? I don’t know if everyone wanted to shake his hand and ask him questions so they could rub it in a little bit or what, but this whole narrative about an ultra-competitive guy getting upset after losing the most important game on his schedule is so stupid.
  • For the first time all season both Agholor and Josh Huff showed flashes of what they can be in this offense. Neither seem to be high-volume targets, which is fine when they are lined up next to guys like Jordan Matthews and Zach Ertz. However, Huff is absolutely electric after the catch and Agholor showed he can be the Eagles primary downfield threat. Granted, both guys have struggled with ball security, but all is not lost with the Eagles receiving corps.
  • For a second straight week, I feel as if I have to commend the Eagles on their effort as a team. I seriously thought the entire season was lost after the debacle on Thanksgiving and there was no way Kelly could remain as head coach. But the team has fought back. Two weeks in a row they have gritted out tough wins over formidable opponents. Their performances have been far from perfect, but they have been able to take advantages of their opportunities and are tied for the division lead with three games left. They are right where we’d thought they’d be at the beginning of the season.
  • It is hard to tell the full narrative of yesterday’s game without bringing up how undisciplined the Bills were. They committed 15 penalties, nine of which were before the snap. Four false starts, four neutral zone infractions and an illegal formation. The Bills are talented, but this is the same story as Ryan’s New York Jets. Eventually he has to figure out that he needs to be a bit less rogue and force his guys to play within themselves, or else he will have to go back to being a defensive coordinator.

WHO’S NEXT

The Eagles will play the Cardinals at the Linc on Sunday Night Football next week and, honestly, the game doesn’t mean anything for the home team. After yesterday’s win all the Eagles have to do is beat both the Giants and the Redskins in their final two games to win the NFC East at 8-8.

Next: History Says Eagles Should Wear Black Jerseys vs. Cardinals

Kelly will probably bring up the whole, “We’re from Philadelphia and we fight,” thing this week and this team isn’t good enough to be taking games off anyway, but as far as the playoff picture is concerned, the Eagles could pick one lucky fan out of the stands and give them a shot at QB on Sunday night, watch them get their teeth kicked in and not lose any ground in the division. It’s just a thought.

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