August 10, 2017
The Philadelphia Eagles' first preseason game of 2017 is in the books, as they fell to the Green Bay Packers 24-9. While the score is irrelevant, there were a number of takeaways from the game. As always, we hand out 10 awards.
In one series of work, Wentz was 4 for 4 for 58 yards, a TD, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. On his most impressive moment of the night, Wentz was looking down the barrel of a Clay Matthews blitz. Instead of panicking, Wentz calmly sidestepped Matthews, broke his tackle, and found Mack Hollins over the middle. This is awesome:
A little @cj_wentz MAGIC!
— NFL (@NFL) August 11, 2017
And @mackhollins will not be stopped.
This was beautiful. #FlyEaglesFly #PHIvsGB pic.twitter.com/ym8Vu4swtq
And then he rested.
Of course, Hollins did the rest of the work on that TD, shrugging off a pair of Packer tackle attempts on his way to the end zone.
Hollins broke more tackles on that play than all the Eagles receivers combined last season.
On a two-point conversion attempt, Wentz went to Agholor on a quick slant. The throw was a high and had some heat on it, but it was, in my view, a catch you expect a starting NFL receiver to make.
Agholor has made plays this training camp, but the inconsistency remains.
As we noted in our five things to watch preview, throughout training camp, Barnett rarely showed his dip and bend around the edge, an elite pass rush move of his in college. Instead, he focused on areas of his pass rush that are nowhere near as strong, and as such, he failed to stand out in a positive way.
Thursday night, he used that dip and bend to beat the Packers' left tackles, and then capitalized on the fear of his outside pass rush to set up the other moves he's been working on.
Welcome to the NFL, @dbarnett25! #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/lCN3OjQeik
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 11, 2017
Here's where I remind you that Barnett just turned 21 in June.
Mychal Kendricks hasn't had an interception since 2013, but he had one against the Packers. Kendricks requested to be traded or released earlier this offseason, and the Eagles would be happy to oblige for a decent enough offer. We have exclusive footage of Howie Roseman's reaction after Kendricks picked off Brett Hundley.
Good God did Sullivan light up Packers receiver Malachi Dupre.
I don't think "it's only PreSeason" applies to Tre Sullivan#Eagles pic.twitter.com/xk7u3OXVO6
— Marc Farzetta (@MarcFarzetta) August 11, 2017
There's nothing wrong with that hit at all. That just a physical play on a player who was not defenseless. When you watch Sullivan's college highlight reel, you'll see a lot of those kinds of plays.
Later, Sullivan hit a receiver trying to haul in a deep pass down the sideline. There's no question he got the attention of Jim Schwartz tonight.
Hopefully, Dupre is OK. The Packers stated that Dupre has movement and feeling in all his extremities.
The Eagles and Packers combined for 10 fumbles.
Preseason action at its finest.
Obviously, Treggs didn't show much last season, but he has had a very good training camp, which has carried over into the the first preseason game. Treggs was targeted eight times. He made 7 catches for 91 yards.
I feel like we have to mention McGloin because he was such a big part of the game, throwing 42 passes. On those 42 passes, he had a paltry 4.9 YPA, turned the ball over on a really bad throw, and did not lead a single scoring drive. He did not help his chances for a roster spot.
Before Thursday night, Pederson was 4-0 in preseason games. He no longer has a share of the all-time best preseason winning percentage in NFL history. Fire him!
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