The Eagles won a big one against the rival Baltimore Ravens 24-23. While there were a lot of good points, the overall grade-out was somewhat mixed.
Offense: B-minus. Once again, this unit rolled up the yards (486) and once again it shot itself in the foot with turnovers (four), including one in the end zone on the Eagles’ first possession of the game. That’s the kind of play that loses games against a good team like the Ravens, but the Eagles in general and QB Michael Vick in particular hung in there and made enough plays to win the game, especially in their final possession when Vick was 4 for 4 for 70 yards and ran three times for 11 yards, including a 1-yarder for the winning TD. And the Eagles did it with two backup linemen.
Defense: A-minus. The Eagles’ defense looked good the previous week vs. the Browns, but that was the Browns, so nobody really knew how good this group could be. They showed it Sunday against a Ravens team that had crushed the Bengals the week before. The Ravens couldn’t handle the Eagles’ pass rush, which kept constant pressure on quarterback Joe Flacco and forced him to release the ball sooner than he wanted, which accounted for all the passes that sailed wide of their targets. MLB DeMeco Ryans led a run defense that shut down Ray Rice in the second half and this group held the fort until the offense got on track.
Special teams: C-minus. There was nothing special about this unit as Damaris Johnson averaged 3.3 yards per punt return and Chas Henry averaged 39.2 yards per punt, with none downed inside the 20. Coverage wasn’t very good, either, as the Ravens averaged 11.3 yards per punt return and 33.3 yards per kickoff return. These guys didn’t lose the game, but they didn’t do much to win it, either.
Coaches: B. The Eagles’ defense kept the Ravens’ off-balance for most of the game and came up with a turnover (Trent Cole's sack and forced fumble) that set up a TD right after the Eagles were intercepted in the end zone, and that might have been the biggest play of the game. The offense caught the Ravens off-guard with a no-huddle offense and for once Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg had a balanced run-pass ration (41 rushing attempts, 32 passing attempts). But the Eagles still turn the ball over too much and make too many mental errors, and for some reason Reid hasn’t been able to fix it.
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Eagles Report Card: Finally, some balance on offense
The Eagles won a big one against the rival Baltimore Ravens 24-23. While there were a lot of good points, the overall grade-out was somewhat mixed.
By
Kevin Noonan
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2 min read