Eagles vs. Lions: The Good & The Not So Good

Just when it looked like the season was headed off the rails, the Eagles pulled a rabbit out of their hat. A rabbit who, by the way, goes by the name of Michael Vick. I certainly hope that the concept of irony isn’t lost on the city of Philadelphia. But getting back to Sunday’s game, here’s a list of what was good and what was not so good.

The Good:

• Michael Vick. I guess that this is where I need to eat my earlier words about how I didn’t think that Vick was playing at a high level. After watching the once-franchise QB bring his comeback full circle by completing 21 of 34 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns, I can’t admit to anything but being impressed at the way he led the Eagles to a much-needed victory. What’s more shocking is that the way in which he played was anything but Vick-like. He threw accurate passes, completed 61% of his throws, and had great downfield vision. He also played from in the pocket for most of the game—he took off running just seven times, gaining only 37 yards. That’s small potatoes for someone with Vick’s legs. If he keeps playing at this level, Andy Reid will have a hard time keeping him on the bench.
• LeSean McCoy. Call this McCoy’s official breakout game. It was the Eagles RB’s first 100-yard game and his first one with three touchdowns. And he accomplished all of that on just 16 carries (McCoy’s per carry average for Sunday: an eyebrow-raising 7.5 yards). But even that number can’t accurately describe the way McCoy played against the Lions. He had impressive agility, great vision, and plenty of speed. All this kid’s cylinders were pumping and the Eagles reaped huge benefits. Westbrook who?
• Turnovers. For as much trouble as they had on Sunday, the Eagles secondary intercepted Lions QB Shaun Hill twice. Doesn’t matter what you’re struggles are, turnovers and short fields give any team an instant advantage in the game.

The Not So Good:

• The secondary. Don’t let the interceptions color your glasses rosy. Though they may be good at picking off bad passes, they’re pretty awful at other important things like tackling and stuff. Just look at the screen pass that Lions rookie Jahvid Best turned into a 33-yard touchdown run. Notice the terrible angles taken by the safeties and the general lack of tackling effort by the rest of the secondary. The Eagles have been turning short dump-offs like that into points for years, so you’d think that they would at least know how to defend them. Need more evidence of this secondary’s problems? Well, they did give up 335 yards in the air to Shaun Hill, who clearly wasn’t having his best day on Sunday (see the aforementioned “Turnovers” section).
• The pass protection. Michael Vick may have had a good day passing, but this group didn’t have a good day protecting. They yielded five sacks and really didn’t give Vick much time in the pocket. For the most part, Vick kept plays a live with a little help from his feet and not his offensive line. This unit needs to step it up, especially since they’ll be protecting the much less agile Kevin Kolb this week against Houston.
• The on-side kick coverage. It’s not like they didn’t know it was coming. Don’t they run through on-side kick coverage in practice at all? When you get a chance to end the game, you’d better be sure to end it. There was no need for the Eagles defense to get back on the field at game’s end.

Winning your first game of the year is always a big step for any team, especially because for some, it takes a long time to get that win. But, if you ask me, despite the impressive performances by McCoy and Vick, the Eagles came entirely too close to losing this one. With just over six minutes left in the game, Philadelphia led 35-17. To win by only three points after allowing two scoring drives, a two-point conversion, and on on-side kick recovery has to be the epitome of “leaving the back door open”.

A win is a win, and Philly should be celebrating this week, but the fact of the matter is that, if the Eagles keep handing out favors in the fourth quarter, they’re going to have a much harder time winning games.