John Miller: O-Line, Oh No For Eagles
The fear was the offensive line. The fear was well-founded.
The starters had not played a snap together during the preseason, and they looked like it.
They were awful.
They got their starting quarterback concussed. They did a poor job run blocking. They allowed five sacks and plenty of hurries.
And then the man in the middle, the man who made the miraculous recovery from knee surgery, went down. Jamaal Jackson’s knee held up, but his elbow didn’t (he tore his biceps), and he headed to the locker room midway through the first half, not to return.
What was curious going into the game was that the Eagles deactivated Max Jean-Gilles and newcomer Reggie Wells, leaving them with just two backup linemen. It’s fair to ask why Andy Reid would do that when he went into the game with two key linemen – Jackson and Todd Herremans – who missed all or most of the preseason with leg injuries. And then Jackson got hurt. And then Jason Peters got hurt. And the Eagles had no more backups.
When Jackson went down, Mike McGlynn entered. The good news is that he caught a pass. The bad news was his blocking.
With the steady Jackson in the middle, the Eagles looked passable early on. When he left, the O-line turned into a jail break. Kolb was chased down and concussed by Packers linebacker Clay Matthews soon after.
The offensive line opened some space in the second half against minimal Packers pressure but failed Michael Vick down the stretch as the backup quarterback was trying to lead the Eagles on a game-tying drive.
So, is the line really this bad? How could they look so unprepared? Why have training camp at all? The Eagles have spent well over $100 million on their offensive line the last two years, and yet it’s a shambles. Peters is not a difference maker, despite his $68 million contract. Check that – he can make a difference, but only by jumping offsides at the most inopportune times. He had two penalties in this game before heading to the sidelines with a sprained knee.
Winston Justice is fine. Nick Cole is a good utility player, but he’s a starter here. The Andrews brothers are long gone, their wallets stuffed and getting their Michael Phelps on.
Herremans is the most dependable of the bunch. Unfortunately for the Birds, his health isn’t always dependable.
This is a mess. Everybody always says Juan Castillo is one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL, and that reputation is well deserved. But something seems very wrong here. It’s hard to imagine an NFL team winning with this group the way they’re performing right now.
The only thing you can point to is that it’s early, and the NFL season is never won or lost in Week 1. OK, sometimes it’s lost. But the Eagles still have time to right the ship.
It’s just hard to see that from where I’m sitting.
Follow John Miller on Twitter (@EagleWonk) and contact him at jmiller@phillysportsdaily.com.
Comments