September 01, 2016

Halftime observations: Eagles 7, Jets 6

By Rich Hofmann
PhillyVoice Contributor

After it was announced that Carson Wentz wasn’t going to play, it would have honestly been fine if the Eagles and Jets decided to cancel their fourth and final preseason game. Alas, the teams decided to go ahead with it, those go-getters.

While all eyes will be on Colin Kaepernick later tonight in San Diego, every Eagle, including Myke Tavarres, stood for the national anthem. After that, they played some football, and the two teams went into the locker room with the Eagles leading 7-6. Here’s what I saw:

The good

• Dorial Green-Beckham, playing in the game to get more reps in the new offense, hauled in a couple of first-down receptions on the Eagles second drive. DGB, normally billed as a deep threat, got open on a shallow cross and slant route:

2 DGB catches, wide open for 16 yds on crossing route, then uses physicality to beat press for 15 yds on quick slant pic.twitter.com/CqGOuhzwGn
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) September 1, 2016

It’s nice that Green-Beckham wasn’t afraid to finish off the run after the catch physically, but such a move probably wasn’t all that necessary in such a meaningless game.

• It remains to be seen if Paul Turner will make the 53-man roster, but the UDFA receiver should be very proud of his training camp and preseason performance regardless of what happens. He finished the half with four catches for 49 yards and even took back a punt to the house just for good measure:

71 yards.
TO THE HOUSE!

Paul Turner is making a real case for making the @Eagles squad. #NYJvsPHI https://t.co/FCm41meYVq
— NFL (@NFL) September 2, 2016

• Marcus Smith made a nice tackle early on, shedding a block and dropping Jets running back Khiry Robinson five yards behind the line of scrimmage:

Steven Means (Business) also contributed a sack.

The bad

• Looking for David Watford over the middle, Daniel pulled a Sanchez: He forced a ball into coverage, ending a promising drive with an interception.

• In one-on-one coverage, JaCorey Shepherd was beat badly down the sideline by Temple product Robby Anderson for a 44-yard touchdown:

Beautiful toss by @b_petty14 for the @nyjets TD!#NYJvsPHI https://t.co/NdG90lhNWJ
— NFL (@NFL) September 1, 2016

• Daniel had a couple of nice throws, but overall, the $21 million man won't be happy with the mistake-filled first half. He finished 14-22 for 131 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions.