9/20/13
Welcome back to Philadelphia Andy Reid. As head coach of the
Chiefs, you lead a team that matched their win total last year at two. Donovan
McNabb was in the house as well. His number five was being retired at halftime.
Of course the media made a big deal about whether Eagle fans would cheer or boo
both Reid and McNabb in their return to Philadelphia. Nobody talked about how
adequate the Chiefs offense is or how dominant the Chiefs defense has been in
their previous two games. There was no talk about how terrible the Eagles
defense is or how lightning quick the Eagles offense goes up and down the field
in the past two games. It was all about Andy Reid, and it sickened me. Yes he
had a solid tenure as Eagles head coach for 14 years, but change was needed.
Here’s what went down in the game:
The first quarter started with the Chiefs getting the ball
first. Their first drive started in a three and out. They had to punt on fourth
down except Damaris Johnson fumbled the punt and the Eagles suffered their
first turnover of the game when Cyrus Gray recovered the fumble for the Chiefs
at the Eagles eight yard line. You would think it would be an easy touchdown on
the Chiefs’ next drive right? WRONG. They went backwards seven yards and had to
settle with an easy 33 yard field goal that Ryan Succop chipped in to make it
3-0 Chiefs. The Eagles finally had the ball on offense with 12:08 left in the
quarter. Their first drive of the game was abysmal. It lasted three plays and
it ended with a Chiefs touchdown on a 38 yard interception that Eric Berry took
in to the endzone to make it an early 10-0 Chiefs lead. The Eagles finally
scored their first points of the game on their third drive of the game. It
started with a vintage Michael Vick 61 yard run and it finished with a 22 yard
Vick touchdown pass to Jason Avant. The Eagles tried to go for two after the
touchdown and it failed miserably. It was 10-6 Chiefs. The Eagles had another
chance to put some points on the board at the end of the first quarter, but
Jason Kelce did a horrible snap, which made Vick go butterfingers with the
football. Justin Houston recovered the ball for the Chiefs at midfield. At the
end of one, the Chiefs led 10-6.
The second quarter began with the Chiefs on offense and they
could not execute points off of that turnover. Succop shanked a field goal from
51 yards and it was time for the Eagles to be on offense. The Eagles didn’t do
much of anything in this quarter on offense, but their defense held their
ground. The Eagles held the Chiefs to two field goals from 31 and 34 yards that
Succop successfully made. Sean Smith intercepted a Vick pass and got tackled at
the Chiefs 39 yard line. At halftime the Eagles trailed the Chiefs 16-6.
The third quarter was such a boring quarter. Alex Henery
chipped in a 29 yard field goal to cut the Chiefs lead to a one score game. In
their next drive, Vick found DeSean Jackson down the sideline and reeled in a
40 yard pass. It set up Henery for a 48 yard field goal that seems makeable.
However, he pulled the field goal wide left and couldn’t chip into that Chiefs
lead. At the end of the quarter, the Chiefs led 16-9.
The fourth quarter started out with a bang for the Chiefs.
They dinked and dunked their way and killed a lot of the clock as they scored
their first offensive touchdown of the game. Jamal Charles ran three yards to
get in the endzone to make it a 23-9 game. Just as fans were walking out of the
stadium, LeSean McCoy told everybody to sit down as he ran 41 yards into the
Chiefs endzone for a touchdown to make it a 23-16 game. This next drive the
Chiefs had in this quarter killed every Eagles fan’s hope of coming back and
winning this game. Third down situations killed the Eagles for most of the
game, but this specific drive was when third down plays haunted the Eagles more
than the Chiefs. They methodically took off eight minutes of the clock and
settled for a 38 yard field goal that Succop kicked through the uprights. That
drive sealed the deal and the Chiefs won by a final score of 26-16. Andy Reid
won in his first game back in Philadelphia and has already improved the Chiefs
win total from last year. They have won their first three games of the season.
Overall, the Eagles did a much better job on defense than
they played in the last two games. Their problem in this game was on the
offensive side of the ball and on special teams. Vick was sacked five times in
this game and made bad decisions with the ball. Vick did show some flashes of
his vintage self as he racked up 95 yards on the ground. McCoy is having a
solid start to the season. He carried the ball 20 times and rushed for 158
yards, which included that 41 yard rushing touchdown. He’s so shifty and
patient in the backfield that he can find the holes and make something out of
nothing. I felt the offensive line didn’t protect Vick as well as I thought
they would. I have to give credit to the Chiefs defense. They have solid pass
rushers and can create turnovers. The Eagles should have run a lot more instead
of pass because the Chiefs defense was getting exposed to the run. The Eagles
had big running lanes created by the offensive line and the up-tempo style of
offense. The one problem I did have with the Eagles defense was that it made
Donnie Avery have a Pro Bowl kind of game for the Chiefs. Avery made the Eagles
miss tackles and extend the drives the Chiefs had on offense. The special teams
problems can be fixed. Johnson should stop fumbling punts and Henery should
work on making those long field goals. To be honest, the Chiefs offense did not
impress me. Reid tweaked his offense a little, but it’s still the same old Andy
Reid offense from when he was coach of the Eagles.
Are the Eagles in
trouble? Sound off and stay tuned as the Eagles travel to Denver to face Peyton
Manning and the Broncos next week.
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