Now seems to be the time for cautious optimism. Philly.com:

Philadelphia should know to avoid overreaction in the preseason after the way last season ended up. But with the starters expected to sit the preseason finale Thursday, their final audition Saturday offered some reason for optimism about Doug Pederson’s inaugural season. Because if the Eagles can be competitive in 2016, the team will need to play like it did Saturday: with a defense that uses its front four to make quarterbacks wish they still wore practice jerseys, an efficient Sam Bradford who keeps the ball off the ground and away from the opposing defenders, and a running game that offers a legitimate complement to Bradford’s passing.

Very cautious. CSN:

The offense hummed, the defense stuffed, and the team took down Andrew Luck and the Colts, 33-23, at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday night to improve to 3-0 this preseason. Now, take that with a grain of salt. Heck, take it with a shaker of salt. The fan base was fooled last year when Sam Bradford and the Eagles looked Super Bowl-bound with a Preseason Week 3 win over the Packers. Cue up The Who’s “We Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Still, the Eagles’ starters were impressive against the Colts on Saturday night on both sides of the ball.

And not so cautious optimism. Philly.com:

What we saw from Sam Bradford and the offense Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium offered sincere hope for a 2016 Eagles season that until now lacked in enthusiasm and excitement. For the second straight year, Bradford looked brilliant in his final preseason tune-up, connecting on 17 of 20 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Truth is, he played even better than that during the Eagles’ 33-23 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Bradford’s first incompletion on the Eagles’ opening series resulted in an interception by Colts cornerback Darius Butler, but only because it went through the hands of wide receiver Nelson Agholor. His second incompletion was an end zone throw intended for newcomer Dorial Green-Beckham, who appeared to break off his route too soon. And his third incompletion could have easily been ruled a drop by veteran tight end Brent Celek…If Bradford could bottle what he has done in the third exhibition game the last two seasons he would assuredly be back for a third season with the Eagles next year, and the idea of this team’s winning the NFC East would not be at all far-fetched.

Caleb Sturgis has more or less locked down the kicking job. CSN:

Cody Parkey of 2014 vs. Caleb Sturgis is a no-brainer. You keep Parkey. But this isn’t the same Cody Parkey as the record-setting 2014 Pro Bowler. Maybe he’s not totally recovered from the groin injury that derailed his 2015 season. Whatever it is, Parkey is not the same guy who made 89 percent of his field goal attempts as a rookie. Sturgis has routinely out-performed Parkey in training camp, and the disparity between the two was on full display last night, with Sturgis easily making both his field goal attempts – a 32-yarder and a 47-yarder – and Parkey missing a PAT. Parkey has only attempted one field goal this preseason – he made a 40-yarder in Pittsburgh last week – but right now the Eagles really have no choice but to keep Sturgis, who made an unspectacular but acceptable 82 percent of his field goals last year. Parkey may have more upside and maybe he’ll regain his form somewhere else. But the Eagles can’t afford to wait.

Josh Huff could be finally finding his role. Philly.com:


Huff pulled in an intermediate pass over the middle and tacked on 20 yards or so after the catch. And he converted a short third down when he took a jet sweep handoff and scooted 9 yards around the corner for a touchdown. “I wanted to get certain guys in certain situations and he was one of them,” Pederson said of Huff, who finished with two catches for 60 yards. “He did a nice job obviously putting the ball in his hands and running it and then obviously throwing him some slants and intermediate stuff that he’s very good at.” Huff’s performance all but cemented his spot on the 53-man roster. The same can’t be said for other Eagles receivers who once appeared to be locks – cough, Rueben Randle, cough – but now find themselves one preseason game from being released before Saturday’s deadline.

Sam Bradford looks great because that’s what pre-season Sam Bradford does. Philly.com:

Sam Bradford was deadly in his final regular season tuneup. An undeserved interception blotted his record – Nelson Agholor handed the ball to Darius Butler, setting up a field goal for the Colts. But Bradford otherwise hit on 12 of 13 for 135 yards in the first half, and the first Eagles touchdown for Dorial Green-Beckham. Bradford then led a third-quarter TD drive, and eventually sat down on 17-for-20 for 167 yards and 2 TDs, a 114 passer rating.

DGB made his mark on the QB. PhillyMag:

“He is a big, physical receiver. He is kind of the receiver that comes to mind when you think of fades in the red zone,” Bradford said. “Any time that we can get him matched up one-on-one backside, we want to take advantage of that. It is huge for us. It just gives us another weapon, another play down there. Just trusting him to go make a play, it is nice to have someone like that down in the red zone.”

The defense was the real standout however. PhillyVoice:

Through three games, the first-team defense has looked dominant at times. The front seven whipped the Colts’ line tonight. The offense has question marks all over heading into the regular season, but it moved the ball consistently as they should have against a depleted Colts defense. Maybe, just maybe, they won’t be quite as bad as everyone thought. We’ll begin to learn what they’re really made of two weeks from now when the Cleveland Browns come to town.

Though they’re not playing the world’s toughest competition. Philly Voice:

In the first two preseason games, the defense produced nine turnovers and held opponents to 4.5 points per game. Against the Buccaneers, the Eagles’ first-team offense only saw Jameis Winston and the Bucs’ first-team offense for a few series. Against the Steelers, they did not see Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, or Le’Veon Bell, among others. While the Colts eventually scored 23 points (13 in garbage time), the Eagles’ first team D mostly shut down the Colts’ first team offense led by Andrew Luck.