Philadelphia Eagles: Stock Watch versus the New England Patriots

Act 2 is where things really come together.

It’s where you learn the promise of the premise, see the fun and games, and watch the story unfold in a way that sets the audience up for the ultimate payoff – good or bad – in the third and final act.

Considering the NFL season is now broken into 17 games with three games of exhibition play preceding it, using the traditional 3 Act Structure of a modern-day screenplay is a fun way to contextualize the final segment of the preseason.

With that framing tool in mind, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ preseason story is rapidly turning into a horror film, with only a final confrontation against the lowly New York Jets serving as a potential light at the end of the tunnel.

Can you do a Stock Watch for a 35-0? Like really, can you? When you’re watching a team sans a kicker with a sick starting quarterback to boot get blown out on their home turf against their chief AFC Rival, can anyone really appreciate any individual performance through the malaise of another Philadelphia Eagles loss? Eh, might as well try, right?

Stock up: Alex Singleton

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Did any player try harder in the Philadelphia Eagles’ second preseason game of the summer than Alex Singleton?

I mean seriously, we’re talking about a player who recorded five solo tackles, seven total tackles, and a tackle for loss, while splitting his time between the middle and weakside linebacker spot. If any player on the Eagles’ roster decided to put it upon themselves to give the fans in attendance a show, the honor surely falls on the shoulders of the sixth overall pick in the 2016 CFL Draft.

Splitting his time alongside Eric Wilson and T.J. Edward, Singleton was all over the field for Jonathan Gannon’s defensive unit. He was active around the line, made plays dropped back in zone, and even recorded a particularly good tackle for a loss on a first-quarter Damien Harris run.

Heck, at one point, Singleton was banging on his helmet for what felt like an entire drive to get out of the game but still continued to be an active contributor to the team’s defensive efforts before basically collapsing on the sidelines once replaced by Shaun Bradley.

In a game where players like T.J. Edwards, Eric Wilson, Gennard Avery, and Bradley all turned in plus performances, it was Philadelphia’s reigning 100 tackle man who rose above the rest and proved once and for all that he’s an NFL player after all.