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Last season, Frank Gore accused the Eagles of folding when the 49ers got physical with them.
“I think playing that second half and the way we came out, the Eagles didn’t want to play no more,” said Gore. “We just kept pounding and kept pounding and making plays and we kind of knocked the fight out of them.”
Their will power was further put into question as a result of blowing five fourth-quarter leads in 2011.
Sunday’s game against the Ravens was a step in the right direction away from that reputation. Not only did the Eagles win in come-from-behind fashion for the second straight week, but did so while playing a nasty brand of ball.
“They wanted to come out and push us around but we weren’t having that,” said DeMeco Ryans. “We had to fight back, bring the intensity and bring the fight to them.”
The NFL gave football geeks everywhere our wish this offseason, announcing it would release All-22 coaches’ film to the public (for a small fee, of course).
Unlike TV footage, the All-22 angles account for every player on the field on any given play.
I took a look at the coaches’ tape and came away with some new observations from Sunday’s Eagles-Browns game. We’ll start with the defense here and post offensive observations next.
Did you miss the debut of Birds 24/7 Radio on 97.5 The Fanatic? Tim and Sheil broadcast live from 360 at the Parx Casino in Bensalem Monday night. They broke down the Week 1 win against the Browns and spoke to rookie cornerback Brandon Boykin.
The podcast is now available on iTunes. Download it right here.
Andy Reid has answered the question many times during his 13-plus years as the Eagles head coach: Why didn’t he run the ball more?
Sometimes the question is unfair. As any analyst worth his pocket-square will tell you, this is a passing league. If you can’t move the football through the air, chances are, you’re not competing for a playoff spot, let alone a Lombardi Trophy.
But other times, the question has merit. Today was one of those times. Michael Vick was in a funk, making mistake after mistake, going 29-for-56 (51.8 percent) and tossing four interceptions. He was sacked twice and hit 11 times, as the offensive line struggled throughout.
The Cleveland Browns got an offensive boost Monday with the return of rookie running back Trent Richardson.
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Richardson worked in with the first unit and looked healthy doing so. The former Alabama standout and No. 3 overall pick in the draft had his knee scoped about a month ago. Montario Hardesty and Brandon Jackson are also in the running back mix. Head coach Pat Shurmur said that Richardson will be the starter if he is ready to go, per Mary Kay Cabot of the Dealer.
Juan Castillo‘s unit ranked 16th against the run last season, yielding 113 yards per game.
The Eagles open with the Browns in Cleveland on Sunday.
The Eagles acquired safety David Sims from the Browns late Friday evening for a conditional draft pick. To make room on their newly-sculpted 53-man roster, they released Julian Vandervelde.
“Solid tackler, can play on special team,” said general manager Howie Roseman. “He’s a guy that we’ve been following throughout the course of this preseason.”
The 5-9, 204-pound Iowa State product was originally signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent last season before bouncing to Tampa Bay and eventually Cleveland. This preseason he came up with a pair of interceptions and made 14 tackles.
Trent Edwards was wide-eyed as he fielded questions at his locker Thursday night. The same emotion that he showed following scoring drives was written all over his face. It looked like some combination of excitement, hope and desperation.
Edwards got to run the show for the majority of the preseason finale against the Jets and again capitalized, going 22-of-32 for 197 yards with two touchdowns. He is officially in the conversation for the third and final quarterback spot behind Michael Vick and Nick Foles.
Eagles head coach Andy Reid confirmed today that defensive tackle Mike Patterson could miss the entire season as he recovers from offseason brain surgery.
“I think that’s going to be an extended time here,” Reid said. “We’ve just got to see how that goes, if he’s able to go at all this year. We just have to see how that works out. We’ll take checkups in increments here, but right now, it’s going to be awhile.”
The Eagles cut their roster down to 80 players today. They have to get to 75 by Monday afternoon. Here are the 10 guys they cut.