Zone Read: Eagles-Packers, the Day After

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CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN…

1. What’s going on with Jason Kelce’s snaps?

The Eagles’ center has been back for three weeks, but he’s still having a lot of trouble accurately snapping the ball to Sanchez out of shotgun.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” Kelce said after the game. “I feel like I’m letting down a bunch of teammates, a bunch of players, letting down the offense. It’s a terrible feeling.

“I’ve had three weeks now to get that fixed. There’s no reason why it should still be a mistake.”

In all likelihood, the reason for the bad snaps is an injury issue. Kelce had a significant wrap around the thumb of his right hand after Sunday’s game. He said he’s fine and refused to use the injury as an excuse, but the guess here is that’s what’s affecting him.

In the fourth quarter, Sanchez couldn’t handle Kelce’s off-target snap, and Packers defensive back Casey Hayward returned the fumble 49 yards for a touchdown.

2. Why Kelly didn’t call a timeout during the final drive of the first half?

In the grand scheme of things, this didn’t end up mattering. But time management issues can kill teams in close games, so it’s worth mentioning nonetheless.

During the Eagles’ final drive of the first half, Sanchez took the snap with 50 seconds left, climbed the pocket and delivered a strike down the middle of the field to Jordan Matthews for 40 yards. The Eagles had two timeouts left, but didn’t use them. Instead, they tried to hurry to the line of scrimmage. That took some time.

The Eagles’ next snap came with 23 seconds left at the Packers’ 15. Had they used a timeout, they would have had 42 seconds. Sanchez threw incomplete to the end zone twice and then threw the ball away on third down. With more time on the clock, the Eagles might have had a chance to pick up a first down and run more plays.

Again, it wouldn’t have made a difference in the end result, but the right move there is to use the timeout.

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THE NUMBER THAT MATTERS: 1

That’s how many times the Eagles hit Rodgers on 38 dropbacks.

The game plan was to disrupt the timing of the Packers’ offense by pressing their receivers at the line of scrimmage. In theory, that was supposed to allow time for the pass rush to get home. It’s a plan that worked effectively against Eli Manning and the Giants. But Manning is not Rodgers, and it failed miserably vs. Green Bay.

Vinny Curry had a sack/forced fumble, but other than that, Rodgers stayed clean the whole game.

“We obviously didn’t execute,” Kelly said. “We needed to get pressure on him and we didn’t do a very good job getting pressure on him. He was on fire early. He is an extremely accurate passer. We knew that was the deal coming in and we didn’t do a good enough job getting after him.

“He was as advertised. I think he is playing as good as anybody in the league. You look at some of the balls he throws, extremely accurate, on target. If you blitzed him, he got it out quick. If you didn’t, he held it until guys got open. He got it to everybody. I think Cobb had 10-plus catches inside the slot. Everybody contributed for him, but that all starts with the trigger man, and he put on a show today. He is as good as they get.”

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Rodgers was 11-for-19 for 181 yards and two touchdowns when the Eagles blitzed. He was 11-for-17 for 160 yards and a touchdown when they rushed four or fewer. In other words, it didn’t matter what Billy Davis tried. The Eagles couldn’t get to Rodgers.

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THE BEST OF 140

It really is remarkable how teams go after Fletcher early and often every week. It’s not like the Eagles have Richard Sherman on the other side. Fletcher got beaten all day long. He gave up a 64-yarder to Jordy Nelson. Two of Rodgers’ three touchdowns were against him. Another Packers touchdown was set up because of a pass interference call against Fletcher. And he badly whiffed on a tackle on a third-down play. I asked Fletcher specifically about the fades down the sideline. “I’ve just gotta play the ball a lot better when it’s in the air,” he said.

I’m guessing most Eagles fans felt the same way. The Packers showed very little interest in running the ball early. And who could blame them?

Matthews was one of the only Eagles who actually made plays, but the two former Eagles linebackers had the same reaction when Matthews had a chance to come down with a ball downfield on a corner route in the first half. Watching live, it looked like a drop, but Reese and Joyner both felt Matthews could have had it if he laid out.

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