You probably felt the same way I did after Cody Kessler exited in the first quarter with a concussion.

“Oh God, we’re gonna get three quarters of Clayton Thorson, the guy who went 2-7 last week for ten yards and an interception.”

But the 5th round draft pick out of Northwestern took a big step up last night, completing 16 of 26 passes for 175 yards, a touchdown, and an pick on a ball that probably should have been caught by DeAndre Thompkins.

We’re gonna talk about Thorson, but let’s actually go through the Cody Kessler series before we get there:


Cody Kessler

Not a great opening series with his arm, throwing to a covered Charles Johnson and then missing high on his next effort, but the 3rd down scramble moved the sticks. Then he almost got killed when Andre Dillard slid inside on pass protection, which resulted a defensive end clobbering Kessler via the blindside.

So whose fault was that? Was it Dillard’s fault?

Here’s analysis from former NFL guard Geoff Schwartz:

And here’s another bit of analysis from Chiefs tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who is Geoff’s brother:

Finally, for confirmation, the head ball coach Doug Pederson putting the play on Kessler and not Dillard:

“They pressured there. You really would like the quarterback to see that and get that quick throw. Held the ball a touch. We needed to get the ball out.”

There ya go, not on Andre Dillard.

Clayton Thorson

I think “settled” is a good word. He just looked a lot more settled out there.

Thorson took the Birds on drives of 95, 75, and 85 yards, and even though one was nothing but running plays, he looked rather composed and assertive on the others, going 12-16 in his passing attempts. I thought the backup linemen also did a nice job keeping Thorson upright and relatively protected for most of the night. On the 75-yard touchdown drive, the Eagles literally the ran the ball eight times in a row, so go figure.

I did wanna share this clip, which was the clear and obvious catch that needed to be reviewed for some reason:

Hey, whatever works.

The pass interference challenge

So Doug challenged for pass interference for the first time this preseason, tossing the flag on an endzone look for Carlton Agudosi that was originally ruled incomplete.

Here’s the slow motion replay:

Pretty clear to me. The defensive back has a big ‘ole chunk of shoulder pad there and is restricting Agudosi’s movement and ability to jump for the ball.

Good call by Doug, a relatively brief review, and the correct decision in the end. I’m not sure why anybody would have any complaints about that specific sequence, yeah?

Miles Sanders

We wanted to see some shiftiness and explosion and we got that, beginning with a 12-yard run to open the game, sparked by a really nice block from Josh Perkins. It was a big, gaping hole that your grandmother could have run through.

Later, Sanders had the nice off-tackle pickup for eight or so yards after a good seal from Dillard, then the draw play where he was able to turn a loss of yardage into a short gain.

He also had an excellent blitz pickup on the Thorson to Ward touchdown pass, right here:

Well done, Miles Sanders, and a nice job by Thorson to hang in there with the pressure coming.

Daeshon Hall

Big forced fumble, two sacks, a tackle for loss, and three QB hits.

Another big night for the converted outside linebacker who altered his weight to make the 4-3 defensive end conversion.

Is Hall Steven Means 2.0? Is he a good player who just has no spot on this roster? If he’s going to make the team, then 4th round draft pick Shareef Miller would likely be the odd-man out, since the Birds are probably going to roll with a 10-man group that includes these nine guys:

  • Brandon Graham
  • Malik Jackson
  • Fletcher Cox
  • Derek Barnett
  • Timmy Jernigan
  • Josh Sweat
  • Hassan Ridgeway
  • Vinny Curry
  • Treyvon Hester

That’s five tackles and four ends, so the 10th spot goes to either Hall or Miller at this point. If you think both of those guys deserve a spot, then Josh Sweat is the guy who is left out.

Linebackers

Zach Brown had a great read on the 1st defensive series and couldn’t finish his tackle for what would have been a sack. L.J. Fort finished with five tackles and Nate Gerry two, while backups Alex Singleton and T.J. Edwards got a ton of time in this game.

I didn’t see anything here to kind of change my mind from last week. Nigel Bradham and Zach Brown should be the linebackers in nickel, then your 4-3 look adds L.J. Fort to the mix. I just haven’t seen anything from Gerry that really stands out to me or makes me think that he’s anything more than a backup and special teamer moving forward.

The 5th wide receiver

Mack Hollins played last night and caught a five yard pass. He only had two total targets.

Who’s the 5th receiver at this point? Is it him? Do the Eagles roll with six guys in this department? Greg Ward had the big touchdown catch, but only two total receptions on the night. Marken Michel had the big 75-yard score last week.

I feel like Hollins still gonna be the guy, but he’s in a similar spot to Corey Clement, maybe just hanging on to a roster spot at this point because nobody behind him has really made a noticeable push. Perhaps that changes in preseason week three.

Jake Elliott

3/3 on extra points and hit a 52-yard field goal in the rain.

Quality night from him.

Ross Tucker

Sounded much better, nice to see the laryngitis is gone. He’s a good analyst and a Berks County guy, so shout out to Berks County, unless you went to Wilson or Exeter. Then y’all can sod off. Go Boyertown.