Philadelphia Eagles quarter-season report card

By Lou DiPietro  |   Thursday, October 02, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

Philadelphia Eagles
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The more things change, the more they stay the same.

With 25 percent of their 2008 season behind them, the Philadelphia Eagles are 2-2 and on pace to match their 8-8 record from last year. But while they’re better at this point of the season than last year, when they limped into a Week 5 bye at 1-3, the Eagles should be 3-1 and could easily be 4-0. The Birds lost six games by 8 points or fewer in 2007, and it looks like 2008 is shaping up to be more of the same.

But that’s not to say there haven’t been bright spots. The offense’s outburst in Dallas, the defense’s punishment of Pittsburgh and Quentin Demps’ return stats speak to that. There is still, however, room for improvement in a lot of areas.

OFFENSE
Overall Grade: B
MVP: Brian Westbrook
Area to improve: Hurry-up situations

The offense looked unbeatable for the first two games, putting up 38 on the Rams before dropping 37 on Dallas a week later. Since then, it’s been a tale of two halves. The Eagles’ first-half offense has looked anywhere from good to great, while the second-half attack can be best described as “hope we get deep enough to give David Akers a chip shot.” The Eagles have one second-half touchdown in the last three weeks, and that came early in the fourth quarter against Dallas.

Donovan McNabb looked amazing for seven quarters, but then came the final drive at Dallas, where it looked like Super Bowl XXIX all over again. He followed that up with a horribly average game against Pittsburgh, but after redeeming himself for most of the Bears contest, fourth-quarter karma struck again. A.J. Feeley may have thrown a pick to ice the Patriots game last year, but at least he got the team down the field. While McNabb’s 65 percent completion rate and three-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio look good on paper, his two botched fourth-quarter drives put an ugly damper on that sheet.

The receivers have all done well, especially considering tight end L.J. Smith has been in and out of the lineup. DeSean Jackson has been everything the Eagles hoped when they used a second-round pick on him in April's draft -- and quite frankly, everything they hoped Reggie Brown would be when they took him in the same spot four years ago. With Kevin Curtis out and Brown hobbled, the rookie from Cal has stepped up huge, easily leading the team in catches and yards. Hank Baskett has also been terrific, while Greg Lewis and Jason Avant have carried their weight as the third and fourth receivers.

The running game, on the other hand, has been average. Granted, the Eagles haven’t had Brian Westbrook for the last seven quarters or so -- and that’s exactly why he’s the MVP. Correll Buckhalter is not Westbrook, and the offense is showing that. In nine quarters, Westbrook has about 30 fewer total yards from scrimmage than Buckhalter and Lorenzo Booker do in eight games combined. Booker only has 12 carries, which makes you wonder why Tony Hunt or Ryan Moats couldn’t have filled that role without having to lose a fourth-round draft pick. McNabb looks lost without Westbrook; not having his top weapon is hurting him dearly.

The Eagles are plus-3 in turnovers and out-possess their opponents, yet they're only 2-2. Therefore, I give their offense a 'B' overall; we’ll see how they function when Westbrook returns.

DEFENSE
Overall Grade: B-plus
MVP: Quentin Mikell/Juqua Parker (tie)
Area to improve: Giving up the big play

What can you say about the defense? Outside of that Dallas debacle, the unit has been phenomenal. The defense is averaging more than four sacks a game, has forced six fumbles and already scored a touchdown and a safety this season.

As for the MVP, it’s tough to choose between Mikell and Parker. If a name change was all the former Mr. Thomas (Parker) needed to become a dominant defensive lineman, he should’ve done it years ago. Parker has 3 1/2 sacks so far this season, more than halfway to his career high of six, and he’s clearly been the best of the DE rotation so far - which is saying something when both Trent Cole and Darren Howard have a pair of sacks each.

Mikell, meanwhile, has proven why he deserved to take the starting strong safety spot away from Sean Considine. The Boise State product leads the team in tackles, and is on pace to break 100 in that category. He’s also caused two turnovers -- one interception and one forced fumble -- and even recorded his second career sack, against St. Louis. When you consider that he has three All-Pro cornerbacks and Brian Dawkins with him in the defensive backfield, Mikell’s shining season looks even more impressive.

One thing this defense does need to do, however, is work on how it fares against the big play. In the Dallas game, the Eagles gave up a 72-yard TD pass to Terrell Owens and let the Cowboys score a field goal at the first-half gun on a drive where they yielded 45 yards in 30 seconds with no timeouts. Byron Leftwich gave the Eagles a run for their money at the end of the Steelers game, and they allowed 14 points to the Bears on quick drives in which they looked unprepared. Granted, one of those marches came after Jackson muffed a punt inside Philly's 25, but that’s where the defense needs to pick the team up.

Still, given the effort against Pittsburgh, it’s hard to drop this defense below a B-plus.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Overall Grade: A-minus

On the whole, they’ve been good, minus a couple egregious mistakes.

Jackson and Quentin Demps have given the Eagles a pair of threats on returns, and Jackson has already ripped off a 60-yard punt runback. However, his muffed punt may have been the pivotal play of the Bears game and it was a rookie mistake to try to field that while falling down.

The coverage teams have been mostly good, Felix Jones’ 98-yard kickoff return notwithstanding. They’ve been great on punt coverage, and have compensated well for Akers, whose kickoffs have gotten a bit shorter than usual lately.

In terms of kicking, both Akers and punter Sav Rocca have been their usual solid selves. Rocca is averaging over 46 yards per punt and has dropped nearly half of his kicks inside the 20. Akers, the all-time leading scorer in Eagles history, is 8 of 10 to start this season, with both of his misses coming in the Bears game on kicks from 47 and 50 yards. While he may not quite have the leg he once did -- especially on kickoffs -- he’s still one of the game’s best.

Overall, I give the special teams an A-minus; they’ve made the fewest mistakes, so to speak.

You know, that grading system may just explain why the Eagles aren’t undefeated.
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About Lou DiPietro

Lou DiPietro is an accomplished freelance writer who is fascinated with all things sports. In addition to his duties at RealFootball365.com, Lou contributes to TheBleacherReport.com and Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine, and has been featured on "The Sports Buffet with Matt West" on 1080-AM ESPN ...
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