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Preseason Game – 30 Immediate Observations from Panthers 25, Eagles 14
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Feels like Groundhog Day with the Eagles.
This was the third straight week in which the defense really battled and made it a game, only for an injury-depleted offense to do pretty nothing in a tough loss.
Rams, Jaguars, Panthers – same thing, different day. The Birds were in decent positions to get a win out of one or more of these games and went 0-3 instead.
They went into this one without Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, Landon Dickerson, Tank Bigsby, Will Shipley, and Drew Kendall. Cam Jurgens and Lane Johnson have been gone for a few weeks now. They weren’t expected to have much of a chance without QB1 and their top three running backs, but this was one-score game in the fourth quarter, and they once again found a way to come out on the losing end.
The offense had 205 yards of offense before the Panthers backed off in the fourth quarter. Sean Mannion’s unit finished with 17 first downs and punted eight times. It was ugly.
Now the Birds are 2-4 as we go to the observations.
1) Gotta say, it was comforting to hear Ross Tucker on color commentary for a Tanner McKee game. Very appropriate! The Eagles offense was basically a collection of preseason guys out there anyway. It certainly felt like a preseason game. We were watching, but we weren’t really invested.
2) 11-sack yard to start it off on offense. Who didn’t see that coming? Then Makai Lemon alligator-armed a pass that probably should have been picked off.
3) Hay-vertown? Someone get Ian Eagle a Delaware Valley pronunciation guide!
4) Are we sure Lemon trapped that ball on the second drive? Maybe I’m an idiot. It just seemed like the refs and the announcers were very cavalier about the catch and decided almost immediately that he used the ground to reel it in.
5) Panthers’ second drive, 2nd and 18 – that three-man rush was gross. Sure, they only allowed six yards, and set up a 3rd and 12, but Bryce Young had forever to throw the ball. None of the three linemen got close to him.
6) “Well you can see why he tried to catch it with one hand, because Lee was grabbing his other arm.” – funny how some dopes on the Panther sideline thought that was good coverage on DeVonta Smith.
7) Was a bummer to see Carson Steele go down injured. Guy gets an opportunity and was only able to play a couple of snaps. Eagles were down RB1, 2, 3, and 5 at that point.
8) Bobby Okereke? Is this the same Bobby Okereke who just sort of league average for the Giants? The guy looked like prime Mike Singletary on a few of those first-half snaps.
9) That special teams sequence with Keyshawn James-Newby was odd. He was right up on the punter and didn’t get a piece of the ball, or did he? Whatever the case, the guy shanked it, but they whistled KJN for running into the kicker. He was what? – a few inches away from a field-flipping, possibly game-changing play?
10) The Eagles ran 17 plays in the first quarter. Five went for negative yardage. Then the first play of the 2nd quarter was an explosive that was called back for a hold. Lovely!
11) Gross:
What even is that? What is that design? Three guys blocking two? Why is Lemon going outside the other two instead of inside? Then, even if Dameon Pierce jukes the free defender, he’s got two more guys bearing down on him.
12) Did you see it? They did it! They faked the Lemon orbit motion / bubble screen and tried to set up a shot. Incredible. It didn’t entirely work, but this happened:
13) 15 yards for pulling down the pants –
14) It was somehow a three-point game after the Birds went 10 plays in 78 yards for score their first touchdown. The key play was probably the Darius Cooper “catch,” which the Panthers couldn’t review because the Eagles did a nice job getting up to line and calling another play. Smith had a nice reception to move the sticks on third and long and they were able to pound it in after the above penalty for trying to undress Dallas Goedert.
btw – did you notice Smitty’s reaction after the catch? and the later jawing on the sideline? looked like it meant a lot to him to get back out there and play again.
15) The Nolan Smith concussion – oof. Chuba Hubbard got him hard on that chip block. It was difficult to see the contact from the back-angle view, but he knocked him out cold. Knocked him entirely out of the game.
16) Carolina gave up before halftime? And the Eagles didn’t use any timeouts? What?
17) Eagles D blitzed more than they usually do in this game. It was largely working. Can’t say anything bad about Vic Fangio’s unit after another game in which they gave the team a chance to win.
18) Shame that Britain Covey gets absolutely annihilated only for a great return to be called back for holding. How mad are you after something like that?
19) Every time I watch Hubbard play, I laugh and think about that dispute he had with Mike Gundy. Remember that? Hubbard called out his college football coach for wearing a One America News shirt (OAN), and it blew up into this huge thing. Then they did a really awkward video after claiming they had hashed it out. Hilarious.
20) The quarterback has to drop back and pass from under center. Jesus Christ. Everything is either play action or a run from that setup. It’s way too predictable and it’s the main reason why the Panthers were able to blitz without reservation.
21) Johnny Mundt blows. To be fair, they brought the guy in thinking he’d be a nice addition to the run game, which no longer has Barkley, Bigsby, Jurgens, Johnson, Dickerson, and Hurts. So he’s just kind of whatever running around out there, blocking nobody while adding nothing in the pass game.
22) That was a really nice play from Carolina when they put Jalen Coker in the backfield on third down and ran him at Zack Baun. The Eagles were playing well when the Panthers decided to attack the middle of the field with some short stuff and it opened up that drive for them. They went on to score on a 92-yard drive.
23) 4th and 1 – half the defense jumps offside at the goal line. Not ideal!
24) Smitty goes down injured only to come back into the game and catch three more passes on the same drive, including a 19-yard touchdown pass. Smitty will always rule.
25) I can’t believe they scored, got a stop, and then the first play of the next series is a bad snap for a 12-yard loss. Actually, wait – I can believe it. Guess that’s what happens when you’ve got your third-string center in there.
26) “By rule, the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage.” Yeah, after the dude took Tyler Steen’s head off. How lame is it that they can’t review something like that, which totally changes the play and is right there in front of the cameras?
27) Never a penalty on Cooper DeJean. Dude is trying to climb on top of him and pin him to the ground and all he does is stand up and get the guy off of him. He didn’t do anything extra.
28) Say what you will about the injuries, but the penalties are ridiculous. All three phases of the game. Lack of discipline! Poor coaching!
29) Tanner McKee finished 26-45 for 215 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles ran the ball 13 times for 35 yards. Next week we’ll presumably get to see what McKee can do with a few more starters in the fold. He didn’t light the world on fire, though I’m not sure any rational Birds fan was expecting him to.
30) At least the next game is on a Monday night. That means we can do something else with our Sunday. Maybe pumpkin patch with the wife and kids, or sit on our asses watching decent NFL teams play.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com