Eagles 18, Browns 18

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Eagles 18, Browns 18

Posted: August 18th, 2023 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

The second preseason game was not a thing of beauty. Not even close to that. There were dropped passes, penalties, missed tackles, dropped passes, bad throws, injuries and even some dropped passes. Yuk, to put it mildly.

There were plenty of positives as well. The preseason is more about individuals than the team. There were several players who played well and gave us a real reason to be happy. Let’s talk about the good and the bad.

GOOD

Is Tanner McKee this year’s Brock Purdy, the late round pick who fit in right away? Hopefully McKee doesn’t see the field this year, but he’s played really well in the first two preseason games. He’s poised and smart. He makes good throws. McKee is very accurate down the field. He is aggressive and gives his guys a chance to make plays. I’m very impressed with McKee so far. He does not look like a rookie QB.

***

Nolan Smith somehow fell to pick 30. After tonight’s game, people are questioning how on earth that happened. Smith was highly disruptive.

Smith was only credited with 1 tackle, but he made his presence felt until leaving with a shoulder injury (not serious). He won with speed and power. He showed a great motor. Smith played smart. He won on the left and right side. There was a lot to like.

***

Nakobe Dean finally got on the field at MLB. He had 3 tackles and a FF. The FF came at the goal line and was a huge play.

Dean has had somewhat of a quiet Training Camp. Some started to wonder if he was under-performing. Fair question, but camp has so little hitting and tackling that you don’t always get a good feel for LBs. Dean played well tonight in limited snaps.

***

Zach Cunningham started with Dean. He had 7 tackles and a TFL. Cunningham might be the front-runner for the other starting LB role. Nick Sirianni did say that they paired Cunningham with Dean because Dean could make the calls. Nick Morrow was paired with Chris Elliss, with Elliss making the calls. It feels like Elliss and Cunningham are battling for the other spot. I’ve been impressed with Cunningham. He was disruptive in practice and was active in the game.

Elliss had 5 tackles, 2 TFLs and a PBU. He was active and around the ball a lot. Good showing by him.

BAD

Marcus Mariota struggled. Even Sirianni admitted that after the game. Mariota finished 9-17-86. He overthrew several receivers, and was picked off on one of those plays. The overthrows weren’t close. This isn’t a case of timing being off a bit. Mariota is sailing the ball over his receivers.

***

Backup receivers dropped passes all night. This mostly affected McKee, you know the QB who can get the ball close to them. Mariota’s best play was a scramble to the right side where he got off a good throw. And Greg Ward dropped it. Ugh. It is hard to evaluate the offense when they go 3 & out over and over.

***

Kelee Ringo did some good things last week. He struggled vs CLE. Ringo was able to stay close to receivers, but he couldn’t find the ball. That’s kind of important. He didn’t tackle well. I didn’t like his energy on some plays. You need to play with urgency in the NFL.

***

Zech McPhearson has spent the summer in the slot. He started outside tonight and the Browns attacked him over and over. He really struggled early on, but did get better. Then he hurt his lower leg and had to be carted off. That might be a long term injury.

***

Moro Ojomo and Tyrie Cleveland were carted off with potential neck injuries. Both had feeling and movement in their extremities. Hopefully they’ll be okay, but scary moments.

***

The Eagles had 11 penalties. Sirianni won’t be happy with that. They were spread all over the roster. Just a sloppy performance by the Birds. Lots to work on.

***

Tackling was bad. The Eagles seemed to have plays bottled up time and again, only to see the passer/runner/receiver break free and deliver a first down. Sirianni won’t be happy with this.

http://igglesblitz.com/2023/08/eagles-18-browns-18/