It's just the preseason and don't read too much into anything but, man, the Eagles offense could be really good in 2015. One problem: Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews have to stay healthy.
If they do -- and they could! -- this offense could really start to hum. Bradford looked mostly sharp on Saturday night and took some big hits (including a questionable shot near the knees from Terrell Suggs) against the Ravens. Everyone’s going to hold their breath every time Bradford’s on the field for the next few weeks and/or for the entire season, but it actually is possible he stays healthy.
Chip Kelly’s offense calls for quick throws, which should mean less wear and tear. Plus Bradford won't have Suggs coming at him every single week.
Murray, making his debut, and Mathews, once again, looked like a perfect fit for Kelly's offense. The offensive line blocked well but you can see such a massive difference in what these guys bring to the running game with the north-south action that LeSean McCoy and the Eagles lacked at times last year.
It's not a goal to blame Shady, because the offensive line was banged up in 2014 too. But Murray and Mathews could really take this thing to the next level. Add in Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor, both of whom excel at route running, and it's very possible the Eagles explode to new heights in 2015.
More Takeaways from Saturday night's preseason action
2. Jimmy G(etting) better: Patriots fans should get excited about Jimmy Garoppolo after Week 2. Or at least relieved.
After a shaky Week 1 performance from the Pats backup -- who is increasingly important with the possibility of Tom Brady missing time thanks to Deflategate -- Garoppolo bounced back nicely in the second stanza of the preseason, completing 28 of 33 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown, which was easily his most impressive play of the night.
It featured a wild escape from a sack and Jimmy G whipping the ball downfield for a score.
Wild athleticism from a Pats quarterback will never not be weird.
Garoppolo mostly worked short (although he averaged over eight yards per attempt) and was going against a sub-par defense. But it was the type of game that should make Pats fans relax a little bit if Brady has to miss time. It's totally possible Garoppolo could keep them at or above .500 if Deflategate ends up costing Brady four games.
3. Broncos offense vs. defense: As long as Peyton Manning is the quarterback, you expect the offense of his team to be better than the defense. Not so on Saturday night.
And it wasn't something related to the preseason not mattering either: Manning struggled pretty badly against the Texans, who were without star defensive player J.J. Watt.
Throwing more than C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman ran, Manning averaged just over 3.7 yards per attempt while completing just 8 of 14 passes. The good news is, physically, Manning looked about the same as he has in years past. The bad news is the difficulty in attempting to meld Gary Kubiak's offense with Manning's didn't look particularly good early on in Week 2.
The defense did though, keeping the Texans offense out of the end zone (Houston's only score was a Kourtnei Brown interception return), producing five sacks and keeping them under 300 total yards.
With talent like Von Miller (a legit DPOY candidate), DeMarcus Ware and Chris Harris, don't be stunned if this unit carries this team.
4. Don't bury the Saints just yet: Because New Orleans was terrible last season and because they traded one of their best offensive players (Jimmy Graham) and because everyone is getting older and because they lost their best pass rusher (Junior Galette), well, it's pretty easy to assume the Saints will stink again this year.
They might! But Saturday was a reminder that Drew Brees can still sling the rock and there's still plenty of talent on the offensive side of the ball, including second-year wideout Brandin Cooks.
Reminder that Cooks was having a really great rookie season already when he went down for the year. He gets lost in the shuffle with the incredible receiver class from 2014 but there's a reason Sean Payton traded up to get him.
With Graham in Seattle and Marques Colston a year older, Cooks could be a target hog in 2015. You have Mark Ingram and C.J. Spiller as the focal point of this offense, running the ball and then Cooks kind of being a rich man's Reggie Bush in Payton's offense.
That was the formula -- along with a questionable defense that just generated tons of turnovers -- the Saints used to win a Super Bowl before.
5. Young QB roundup: A couple young signal-callers did some good on Saturday night.
Ryan Tannehill was the most notable. He's looked sharp so far in the preseason and was outstanding in the early part of Miami's loss to the Panthers. Tannehill finished 12 of 15 for 102 yards and a score, while continuing to look in complete control of Bill Lazor's offense.
Miami's offensive scheme affords him the ability to use his feet both as a threat and a weapon. If he's really improved his deep passing, Tannehill could explode in 2015.
Teddy Bridgewater was outstanding as well, continuing a trend for the second-year quarterback thus far in the preseason. Most notable from Teddy was an absolutely gorgeous fade to Charles Johnson for a touchdown score -- he put the ball where only Johnson could get it and threw it with fantastic touch. Bridgewater just continues to look poised and mature on the field. His floor is very high and his ceiling is undervalued as well.
Blake Bortles only completed 50 percent of his passes, but it's another year and another preseason where he looks like a competent starting quarterback. Last year is a reminder that it doesn't have to be this way in the regular season, but with Allen Robinson (64 yards) and Julius Thomas (missing due to injury) serving as legitimate weapons for Bortles, he should take a step. The Jaguars offensive line also looked much better, including left tackle Luke Joeckel. If that unit can gel Bortles will certainly get better.
6. Yada, yada, yada, Tebow ran the ball: Not sure if you know but Tim Tebow plays for the Eagles. Exciting, I know! He led Philly on a touchdown drive Saturday night. But in doing so he summed up his career nicely by deciding to avoid a touchdown pass for the sake of trying to run through four defenders.
The Ravens were really excited about the whole thing.
7. Fat guy INT!: We are so darn close to football and so close to real live large men grabbing footballs and nearly getting to the end zone with them.
You should be ashamed of yourself, Josh Freeman.
8. So this is going well ... : You know how Cordarrelle Patterson was terrible last year for the most part and Mike Zimmer/Norv Turner were not impressed with him? Doesn't seem like that's changing much.
The good news for the Vikings is they don't NEED Patterson to be good this year. But he's such an electrifying player that it's brutally disappointing to have him continuing to come up short.