Five up/five down: Eagles-Patriots
As always, there were some positives and negatives in the Eagles’ 27-17 win over the Patriots on Monday night in Foxborough. Here’s a day-after look at 10 standouts – five good and five bad – from the game:
Five up1. Nick Foles: Ever seen this much poise and savvy from a rookie, third-round quarterback? Foles engineered three touchdown drives after replacing an injured Michael Vick and tossed a pair of TDs to Clay Harbor. After two games, Foles has completed 68 percent of his passes (24 for 38), thrown four TDs to one pick and has a passer rating of 118.4.
2. Mychal Kendricks: He was on the wrong end of Alex Silvestro’s TD catch but the rookie otherwise sparkled as a strongside and nickel linebacker. Kendricks was strong at the point of attack, solid in coverage and showcased an ability to get into the offensive backfield to blow up runs or rush the passer. He recorded six tackles, second-most on the defense and one tackle for a loss.
3. King Dunlap: If you were worried that left tackle would be a turnstile, your fears were uncorroborated. Dunlap, starting over Demetress Bell, was one of the few bright spots on the offensive line. He generally kept pressure away from Foles’ blindside and looked more than prepared to start the season if the coaches go that route.
4. Brandon Boykin: The rookie, fourth-round cornerback showed why he’s the front-runner for the kick-return job. He took his first return from deep in the Eagles’ end zone to the 26 for a 30-yard return and returned another 25 yards from the seven to the 32, giving the offense good field position each time. Boykin also logged some reps with the first defense as the slot corner.
5. Punters: Mat McBriar gave his strongest audition yet, booming his first punt 56 yards inside the New England 10 and averaging close to 50 yards per punt. Chas Henry punted twice and dropped each one inside the 10. Looks like this competition is heating up.
Five down1. Demetress Bell: Coming off his subpar debut against the Steelers and subsequent demotion to second string, Bell missed out on his chance to show that he's determined to win back the left tackle job. He was beaten on his first two snaps of the third quarter and struggled against the Pats’ backup pass rush. He’s firmly entrenched as the backup right now.
2. Penalties: When did Al Davis take control of the Eagles? After committing seven penalties for 62 yards in their preseason opener, the Eagles outdid themselves against the Patriots, with 16 for 131. No wonder Big Red blew his top. Some of them – like Fletcher Cox’s late hit on third-and-seven and Jason Kelce’s unnecessary roughness after LeSean McCoy’s six-yard run – weren’t even good-effort penalties.
3. Cullen Jenkins: The veteran DT set a terrible example for the younger linemen with his oversensitive reaction to Andy Reid’s sideline tirade. If Jenkins and the defense had shown that much fight against the Patriots’ backups, the head coach wouldn’t have needed to get in anyone’s face.
4. Evan Mathis: In general, the offensive line – save for King Dunlap – looked unprepared and overwhelmed by a Patriots defensive front that didn’t have Vince Wilfork or Jerod Mayo. But Mathis, who was paid handsomely this off-season for the purpose of keeping his quarterback upright, allowed the pressure that led to Michael Vick getting nailed and leaving early with a chest injury.
5. Third-down defense: The Patriots rested Tom Brady, Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Brandon Lloyd – basically, their entire starting offensive skill players – and still converted 7 of 11 third downs in the first half. This came on the heels of the Eagles' allowing the Steelers to convert five of their first seven third downs. So much for game planning.
