The first dress rehearsal did not go well. The Eagles’ 24-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium night honestly means nothing.
What does is a new offense still under wraps. Who was playing to win and who wasn’t.
So, let’s take look. The Eagles were outgained 440 yards to 159, outperformed by surrendering 31 first downs to 6, and what was highly irritable—even for a game that does not count—is 10 penalties for 96 yards. It is preseason, though getting flagged 10 times for nearly 100 yards has more to do with discipline than is does strategy.
The defense was so horrid it made future accountant Joe Fagnano into Joe Montana, completing 22 of 28 for 224 yards and a touchdown.
Preseason or no preseason, it was difficult to watch this mess.
There was a big mound of ugly, some bad and fee scant moments of good in the Eagles’ 24-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
The Good
Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. finished with five tackles, two solo, and a sack—all in the first half. He will again make the Eagles and push for a starting role. He was a plus in what was otherwise a dismal night overall for the defense. In the time he was in the game, he was always around the ball.
Defensive tackleTy Robinson looks like he will add depth to the defensive line. By all accounts,he has had a very good training camp and ended the game with two tackles, one tackle for loss, a quarterback hit, and a sack in the first quarter, forcing a third-and-17.
Running back Will Shipley looked good, rushing for 22 yards on 7 carries.
Back-up quarterback Cole Payton looked the best of the three quarterbacks. He completed 4 of 9 passes for 34 yards and a touchdown, going off script and hitting Erik Ezukanma in the corner of the end zone.
Rookie tight end Eli Sowers did not start well, getting flagged for holding on his first snap as an NFL player, but he did finish with 3 catches on 3 targets for 12 yards. The glaring problem is could he block? That could be a problem.
Cornerback Kelee Ringo may be the only player to be both good and bad. Good: He had the only interception of the game at the Eagles’ 9 in the final minute of the first half. It was a great defensive play, closing on the play in the back end of the end zone. You can also find Ringo under bad.
Wide receiver Darius Cooper led the Eagles with 2 catches for 21 yards, the longest being for 13 yards. Cooper also had a Dalton pass go through his hands in the first quarter.
The Bad
Not a good way to start. Rookie tight end Elie Sowers getting flagged for holding on the very first play of the game.
Ringo getting called for pass interference in the first minute of the first half. He is on the bubble to begin with, although he is a very good special teams player. He was stung on the Ravens’ first touchdown. But Ringo, being Ringo, did come back to pick off a pass on the very next play that he committed the pass interference.
The Eagles showed pieces of what the offense could look like. But it was not the best start for Mannion, who decided to coach the offense from the sideline. The Eagles were 0 for 9 on third-down conversions. They did not truly move the ball until the third-stringers were on the field late in the game.
The Ugly
Yeah, this belongs in the ugly department—the Eagles’ offense. Okay, Sean Mannion saw his offense go 0-for-9 on third-down conversions, gain a scant 81 yards of offense in the first half, and total 159 yards of total offense for the game. Everything seemed out of sync. Give Mannion points for some glimpses of play design, but otherwise, it was not a good start, regardless of who was playing.
Back-up quarterback Andy Dalton was, well, horrible. He went 3-of-6 for 20 yards, averaging 3.3 yards per attempt. The Eagles failed to achieve a first down under Dalton’s watch. Dalton was supposed to be leading in the back-up quarterback spot with Tanner McKee, and did not help himself, with the Eagles running nine plays for 12 yards under Dalton.Getting flagged 10 times for 96 yards is enough to drive any coach up a wall—and it will be a point of emphasis for head coach Nick Sirianni when watching the game film this coming week.