Five up/five down: Eagles-Steelers
It wasn’t all bad. It wasn’t all good, either. A day after the Eagles opened the preseason with a 24-23 win over the Steelers at the Linc, let’s take a quick look at five guys who looked good Thursday night and five guys who struggled.
Five UpDamaris Johnson: The speedy rookie from Tulsa, who hadn’t played a snap of football since December of 2010, caught four passes for 85 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown from Nick Foles. With Jeremy Maclin out with a hamstring, Johnson got a surprise start and made the most of it. He appears to have the team made.
Phillip Hunt: He certainly didn’t play like somebody on the bubble. Hunt, who had two sacks in late-season action last year, picked right up where he left off, recording two more sacks and a forced fumble against the Steelers and turning in several other good pressures. Unless somebody unseats him, he’s the third defensive end, behind Jason Babin and Trent Cole.
Nick Foles: We’ve watched him grow more and more confident the last week at Lehigh, and the rookie third-round pick from Arizona was able to transfer that confidence into some big plays in his first NFL game. Foles threw a couple long touchdown passes but just as importantly, he managed the game, showed great poise and made good decisions. Mike Kafka is still No. 2, but Foles is
breathing down his neck.
Alex Henery: He was the NFL’s most accurate rookie in history last year, but Alex Henery was never asked to make a game-winning kick, so his booming game-winning 51-yarder -- which tied his career-long made last season against Dallas -- was encouraging. It was only a preseason game, but Henery looked like a seasoned pro blasting the game winner through the uprights.
Vinny Curry: The rookie second-round pick got a lot of snaps and was very active, finishing with five tackles and three tackles for loss in his first NFL game. Curry probably won’t start but is earning plenty of playing time behind starters Jason Babin and Trent Cole.
Five Down
DeMeco Ryans: In his Eagles debut, Ryans was essentially a non-entity. The Ealges need to see much more from the veteran linebacker. He was credited with precisely zero tackles and zero assists, and that’s hard to do, considering he got more than 20 snaps.
Jaiquawn Jarrett: With Nate Allen out, Jarrett got the opportunity to start and he did not take advantage. He struggled in every facet of the game, against the run, in coverage. He took poor angles to the ball, missed tackles and even ran into a teammate (Curry) on one ugly play. Second-round pick or not, he’s in danger of getting cut if he doesn’t show dramatic improvement soon.
Demetress Bell: He played only six snaps, but they were not very impressive snaps. The entire first offense was out of whack, so maybe it’s not fair to single out Bell, but on LeSean McCoy’s one run -- a sweep to Bell’s side -- he was engulfed by the Pittsburgh defensive line, and Shady had nowhere to run and was thrown for a two-yard loss. Not an auspicious start.
Mike Kafka: The interception he threw -- returned 54 yards by defensive end Al Woods -- is simply a pass an NFL quarterback can’t throw. Kafka’s not a rookie anymore. He’s a third-year pro, and he should be beyond decisions that poor and throws that weak. Will be interesting to see whether Nick Foles gets any second-team reps this weekend.
Marvin McNutt: The rookie sixth-round pick was out-muscled a few times for position by the Pittsburgh cornerbacks. He was targeted three times without a catch. McNutt has great hands, but that won’t help him if he lets himself get pushed around by corners.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com
