Eagles vs. 49ers: Quick Reactions from Week 5

Written By Bob Cunningham On Monday, October 11, 2010

McCoy has been nothing short of phenomenal so far.



-- I'll give credit where it's due and say Kevin Kolb played a pretty decent game. His eyes were down-field most of the time, the passes were accurate for the most part, and he was very careful with the ball outside of a bad play right before halftime.

-- But, with that said, let's not get carried away. He did step up into pressure on three separate occasions, got very lucky the Niners didn't hit that field goal before half (which would have meant a tie game at the end), and did miss some receivers. Also, even some balls that were caught looked wobbly or were behind his receiver. He is looking to strong-arm too many of his passes.

-- LeSean McCoy is going to be an icon in Philadelphia before his time is up. He has unbelievable vision (unless it's seeing the first-down marker), is only a half-notch below where Brian Westbrook was as a receiver, and can break some tackles with the weight he's added. I love McCoy and expect great things out of him this year.

-- Did you see the hit Owen Schmitt laid on Shawntae Spencer on the Eagles' first offensive drive of the game? Holy Schmitt!

-- King Dunlap still needs some work. His first move during his kick-step is to drop his hands by his side like he's an 1800's gun-slinger. He has to work on getting a better punch or defensive ends will bully him every time he's in the game.

-- When they knew Peters was going to be out for the game, why not slide Todd Herremans out to left tackle and put Reggie Wells in the game? I don't understand why Andy Reid refuses to play Wells, but he's doing this team a great disservice.

-- Outside of recovering that fumble for a first down, Todd Herremans didn't do a whole lot of good against the 49ers. He had a pretty decent block on Patrick Willis on McCoy's touchdown run, but it was more luck that Dashon Goldson got caught in the wash.

-- Speaking of McCoy, how about the kid going over 100 total yards with a broken rib? Have I mentioned I think this kid is going to be a damn fine player?

-- Mike McGlynn still needs to get more comfortable making calls on the line, but as far as the technique of his blocking and the actual physical aspect of the game, he's well on his way to being a very good football player.

-- Max Jean-Gilles doesn't belong on this team. He's not agile enough and he's lazy. But let's keep Wells on the bench and continue wasting that sixth-round pick.

-- Not hearing Winston Justice's name means he's doing his job. Hopefully there isn't a whole lot to say about him for the rest of the season. He's certainly no Jon Runyan, but he has a bright future on the right side.

-- DeSean Jackson is praying Michael Vick comes back as soon as possible. For whatever reason he has no chemistry with Kolb and was only able to bring in two receptions for 24 yards.

-- Jeremy Maclin, on the other hand, was very good with Kolb. Maclin caught six balls for 95 yards and looked like he could be a possession guy in a west coast style of offense.

-- Actually, that could be why Jackson doesn't put up the numbers when Kolb is playing. Reid and Marty Mornhinweg call more of a west coast-style offense when Kolb is in the game, and that doesn't suit Jackson at all. He is absolutely useless in that style of offense and it's showing.

-- What has happened to Brent Celek? He's got a serious case of the dropsies this year and can't seem to shake it. Kolb gave him numerous opportunities and Celek just could not reel the ball when he had to (outside of the touchdown catch). I'm not saying it's time for a replacement, but something has to be done to let Celek know he can't continue to drop catchable balls.

-- Chad Hall racked up the first catch of his career on a key third-down conversion. I would love to see this guy get some more reps and see what he can do as a key piece of the offense. But, that won't happen with Riley Cooper likely returning next week.

-- Overall, I thought the defensive line was alright. There were some times they broke through like they were unblocked, and other times it seemed like a 10-year old girl could have blocked all four of them at once. I know Brodrick Bunkley went down early, but how about some consistency?

-- Cole and Parker got some decent pressure, but nothing spectacular. Mike Patterson was alright against the run, but not great. Bunkley wasn't in long enough to evaluate.

-- In Bunkley's place, Trevor Laws and Antonio Dixon did a fine job. Dixon had a sack, and Laws got in Alex Smith's face and forced the duck that led to Trevard Lindley's first career interception and sealed the game. It's good to see he's finally decided he wants to play.

-- Brandon Graham got his second career sack, and it was a big one. It was accompanied by a forced fumble that Quintin Mikell picked up and ran into the endzone. It was the deciding play of the game and was a good sign out of the kid after he lost his job to Parker this week.

-- Darryl Tapp got good pressure from the inside and outside of the defensive line. I'm not sure what took him so long to get going, but hopefully this is what the Birds get out of him all year.

-- Long before Lindley got his first career pick to seal the win, Dimitri Patterson made a beautiful play to make his first interception as an Eagle. The Eagles picked Patterson off the scrap-heap like they did with Joselio Hanson, and it's looking like a very good move.

-- Speaking of Hanson, he was a non-factor. His coverage was decent, but nothing to write home about. He gave up a lot of big plays and is clearly nothing more than a nickel corner. Hopefully Asante Samuel can come back next week and everyone can go back to where they belong.

-- Ellis Hobbs continues to be an unsung hero in the secondary. I had my concerns when the team traded Sheldon Brown, but Hobbs has been solid. He allows his share of receptions, but for the most part he's been a solid tackler and is proving me and others wrong for being skeptical.

-- What is there to say about Nate Allen? He makes the occasional rookie mistake, but overall he's been downright phenomenal.

-- Mikell, on the other hand, has been erratic. He's quickly gone from a borderline Pro Bowl player to just a solid guy. Aside from lucking into the fumble recovery, can you think of a big play he's made all season? Maybe I'm missing it.

-- Moise Fokou and Ernie Sims had passable nights. They both forced a fumble, but combined for five tackles. I still think benching Jordan for Fokou was a mistake, and am still very disappointed in Sims. He was supposed to be a fast, hard-hitting guy that would always be around the ball and making plays. So far, he hasn't lived up to the early hype.

-- Stewart Bradley is enough to make me pull my hair out. It would be one thing if he was just slow to the hole. I can excuse that to a degree because of his knee, but even with no one touching him he's missing tackles like Asante Samuel. He clearly couldn't stick with Vernon Davis, he's not a good blitzer, and he can't take on blockers. He's the most overrated player on the team.

-- It's time for Sean McDermott to go. He refuses to blitz. Against a guy like Alex Smith, why let him sit in the pocket and get comfortable? Bring the blitz and Jim Johnson used to and rattle him a little bit. Instead, McDermott sits back and lets Smith nearly bring the Niners back for the win at the end of the game. I'm officially on board with getting rid of McDermott -- let's see Dick Jauron.

-- Special teams was, once again, awful. Hey Andy, stop getting rid of good special teams players without a Plan B (see: Tracy White, Kelley Washington).

-- Why does Reid not kick the field goal instead of going for it on 4th and 1? What in the hell is he thinking? And why would he try a 54-yard field but not one from 50 yards out? Maybe it was the wind, but there wasn't enough to justify such bad decision-making. With those six points, the game is 33-24 at the end and is completely out of reach. His decisions will lose this team games.

-- This is the most deceiving team in the league. There's been really only one game the team has won, and that's the Jacksonville game. Other than that, they could have easily lost every game they've played and be sitting at 1-4. I understand the NFC East is still wide open, but a .500 season would still be an accomplishment at this point.


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