Eagles vs. Colts: The Good & The Not-So-Good

Andy Reid is still perfect in games played after the bye week. And don’t let the final score of the Eagles’ 26-24 win over the 2009 AFC champion Colts fool you into thinking that this was a close game; it wasn’t. Rather, it was one of the most physical games that either team has played this season, and in the end, the Eagles proved to be tough enough to win thanks to a dominating overall effort. Here’s the good and not-so-good (there wasn’t a lot) from Sunday’s game at the Linc.

The Good

• Michael Vick: In his first game back since suffering rib and chest injuries over a month ago, Vick played like he hadn’t missed any time at all. He played a role in each of the Eagles two touchdowns: on the first pass of the game, he threw a perfect dart on a short slant to DeSean Jackson for a TD, and later, he scored on a QB sneak at the goal line. But what was most impressive about Vick was that he didn’t shy away from running in the open field. He had two long runs in Sunday’s game—one for 24 yards and another for 32 yards—and both showcased his speed and agility as he broke tackles and evaded defenders with ease. Without question, Vick is the biggest game-changer on this Eagles’ team right now.
• The defense: After this unit got torched for 225 yards and 3 TD’s by the Titans’ Kenny Britt, I wasn’t expecting them to hold up well against Peyton Manning and his receivers. But taking a week off helped the Eagles recapture the secret to their defensive success: a strong pass rush and a turnover-minded secondary. The defensive line spent most of the afternoon collapsing the pocket around Manning, forcing him to throw quicker, shorter passes. And when he did throw deep, Asante Samuel was there to pick it off. That’s how you contain the Colts’ offense. And if you need even more proof of how good this defense was on Sunday, take a look at these numbers. Entering the game, Peyton Manning was averaging 7.3 yards/attempt and 11.1 yards/completion. The Eagles defense held Manning to 5.7 yards/attempt and 9.5 yards/completion. Yeah, that would just about do it as far as containing the Colts is concerned.
• Andy Reid: If your team has never lost a single game after the bye week in your whole tenure as head coach, you’re doing something very right, my friend.

The Not-So-Good

• Dmitri Patterson: This is my cheap shot of the week, and it’s a little unfair. Patterson actually accounted for himself pretty well at cornerback in his first NFL start (he played in place of Ellis Hobbs, who was benched after a dreadful outing against Tennessee). But I’m not talking about that. I want to know what Patterson was thinking when he fumbled the ball on a kickoff return in the second quarter. At the time, he only had the kicker, Pat McAfee, to beat, and the replay showed that McAfee didn’t quite make enough contact to strip the ball, meaning that it simply slipped out from under Patterson’s arm. Way to screw up the perfect opportunity for a special teams TD, man.
• Kurt Coleman: The only reason Coleman played against the Colts was because rookie safety Nate Allen left in the second quarter with a neck injury. Coleman is also a rookie; he was taken in the seventh-round of this year’s draft and apparently impressed his coaches enough to be put on the roster as a backup safety. Unfortunately, he still has a lot to learn about the NFL’s renewed emphasis on preventing unnecessary helmet-to-helmet contact. His helmet-to-helmet hit on Colts receiver Austin Collie was—in my mind, at least—the very definition of unnecessary. There was no reason that he couldn’t have wrapped Collie up in a tackle instead of lowering his head and making contact. (I’ll have more on that in another post.)
• Unnecessary Roughness: I’ll just say this: I understand that we need to protect quarterbacks, but really?

With a win like this, the Eagles look like they’re ready for a second-half surge. And looking ahead at their upcoming schedule, it would be the perfect time to string together a few wins. Three of the team’s next five games are against division opponents (on the road at Washington, on the road at Dallas, and at home against the Giants), and another is against the playoff-hopeful Chicago Bears. Winning those games would cement the Eagles as one of the best teams in the NFC and put them in excellent position to win a wide-open NFC East. And if the team brings the same offense and defense with it to those games that it brought to this weekend’s upset win over Indianapolis, look for them to make a big jump in the standings.