Of course, the first televised Villanova game of the year comes at the same exact time as the Eagles’ critical prime-time game against the Bears. And I can’t DVR the Nova game because I’m DVR’ing Dexter, Family Guy and Curb Your Enthusiasm already. I know, tough life.
Anyway, the result is that I did a lot of flipping back and forth between the games and caught a good deal of both of them. Here are my thoughts and observations of the two games…
Villanova 79, Ole Miss 67
- I know Mouph Yarou is out and opening up more time, but redshirt Freshman Maurice Sutton looks like he could be a great energy guy at the forward spot. Good hands, very active. He’ll be here all four years; hopefully he can see some of the development Dante Cunningham enjoyed at Nova.
- This was my first look at Taylor King – and I couldn’t help but laugh. King is the “over-active spastic white guy at Duke” who I always make fun of (Wojo, Paulus, Scheyer, etc…). He’s looks a lot more talented than I expected. I saw him run the break and make a nice pass, and also saw him finish with a strong dunk on a nice pass from Pena. He is also rebounding at a much higher rate than I thought, and that’s a huge plus for us. He really looks like he is enjoying Nova a whole lot more than Duke.
- Another new guy I liked? Maalik Wayns. Wayns didn’t shoot well, but he showed a great handle, is as quick as any guard on the team and also showed great court vision on a couple passes. He’s going to really benefit from playing with Reynolds and Fisher.
- Who loses minutes when Redding comes back? I guess Dominic Cheek. Can’t say I’m a huge Redding fan. Like his D, but he makes too many dumb plays on offense. Not to say he can’t improve in his senior season.
- How did I take until the 5th bullet to get to Antonio Pena!? 17 points and 16 rebounds! He showed some great post moves, was all over the glass, and finished well. If he breaks out this year, watch out…
- As I’ve said before, this team has so many offensive weapons that the top guys can play badly, (4 points for Fisher) and we can get by just fine. One thing that does concern me is that we don’t have a dominant, go-to offensive talent like a Kerry Kittles. I was hoping Corey Stokes would develop into that player, but he doesn’t seem to be quite there yet.
- Overall, a whole lot to be excited about with the team. You have the current faces of the program (Reynolds, Fisher, Stokes) playing with the future (King, Wayns, Cheek, Yarou). They still need to find their identity, and the young guys have a lot to learn, but I haven’t been this excited about a college basketball program in a while.
Eagles 24, Bears 20
- Vick did something! Vick did something! A 34-yard run! And then right back to the bench with you, sir! I can’t imagine 2 plays a game was what the Eagles had in mind when they made the risky signing. (By the way, the old Vick would have absolutely taken that to the house, but he did make Daniel Manning look like an idiot.)
- I take notes during the game so I don’t have to remember it all later, and in the first quarter I wrote “I really don’t like how McCoy holds the ball.” Ironically, his key fumble in the 4th was just a fantastic play by Tillman, and McCoy had 2 hands on the ball.
- Credit is due to the coaching staff for playing guys like Tracy White and Dmitri Patterson on defense and still playing a solid game.
- What is Jeremy Maclin’s ceiling? He’s shown this year that he can be a solid WR in the league, but I haven’t seen anything explosive out of him that makes me think he can be more than that. Has anyone else?
- Why isn’t Jason Avant more involved in the offense? He’s a dynamite 3rd down guy, but I feel like the ball should be in his hands more.
- Speaking of which, Cris Colinsworth was dead on that we don’t get the ball to DeSean enough. Shortly after that, McNabb threw a lame duck to him for a touchdown, and we also threw a couple quick WR screens to him for solid gains. Jackson needs to touch the ball as many times as he did today, every game.
- Will Weatherspoon is a real solid tackler. He needs to give Asante Samuel lessons, as he injured himself on yet another lead-with-your-head, don’t-use-your-arms, bounce-off-the-runner attempt.
- The game shouldn’t have been as close as it was with how bad Cutler was/is. Our 3 TO’s kept them in it.
- Speaking of turnovers, the Sean Jones interception to end the game was our first turnover since our shellacking of the Giants. I know our defense is hobbled, but we’ve got to force some more turnovers moving forward.
- Back to Jackson, it was eye-opening to me that his 48-yard touchdown catch was his shortest of the season. That’s great – but how can we get him involved in the Red Zone offense? There has to be a way, doesn’t there?
- McCoy has averaged 5.3 yards per carry in the last 3 games he was featured (last 4, minus the San Diego game where he had 3 carries).
- Still not sure what to think of this team. We are 6-4, with tough, tough losses to Oakland and Dallas. Our final 6 games are WAS, ATL, NYG, SF, DEN, DAL. 3 of those teams (ATL, SF, DEN) look a lot worse than they did a couple weeks ago. Definitely need to take care of business against Washington at home next week and then win at least 3 of the final 5 to make the playoffs.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
The Eagles always seem to come away with big wins and big moments when you absolutely need them. they always just win enough games to keep me really interested throughout the entire season. Lesean is looking really good, evading and breaking tackles.
Eagles game was the rare game where they won despite trailing entering the 4th. neither team seemed that sharp, with breakdows and missed opportunities on both side of the ball- but an entertaining football game.
Came away thinking Kobb (or insert any other accurate passer who gets rid of the ball quickly) could have more effectively used the Eagles weapons in this game.) I’m not really a McNabb basher either.
“What is Jeremy Maclin’s ceiling? He’s shown this year he can be a solid WR in the league, but I haven’t seen anything explosive out of him that makes me think he can be more than that. Has anyone else?”
Um… what? The kid held out for a week of training camp, gets thrown into the fire as a starter when Curtis goes down, with two different QBs, in a system that traditionally has been difficult for receivers to pick up especially coming from the spread offense. All that, and he’s on pace for 66 receptions, 848 yards, and 7 TDs — on par with DJax’s numbers from last year, but with more scores. How is that kind of production in his first year (!) limited his ceiling in your mind?
As for explosiveness, first of all he’s across from one of the most explosive players in the NFL so he’s not asked to do as much of that. And second: did you see the Tampa game? He showed what he can do when teams shift their coverage over to DeSean.
bsencore-
he’s on pace for 763 yards, and 6 TD.
Never said he had a limited ceiling, hence the question. Yes, he had a great game against Tampa. But only Detroit and Tennessee have given up more passing TD’s this year.
You aren’t “asked” to be explosive. When Maclin catches the ball, I’m still waiting for him to break one or make a tackler miss, and he doesn’t do much of that. I have seen nothing to indicate he can be a #1 WR in this league.
I love Maclin, and he HAS been impressive and can probably be a great #2, which is really all he needs to be for us with DeSean around. But with 1st round picks, especially guys who were talked about going as high as #7, you are looking for elite players, and I haven’t been able to tell if Maclin can be that.
I love when they show the DeSean, LeSean, Maclin, and Celek graphic, with all of those guys being under the age of 24. It reminds me of when the Eagles started their NFC East title run in the late 90s, when they were one of the youngest teams in the league with their oldest offensive starter being Chad Lewis at the age of 27. For all of the frustrations that Andy Reid gives me (RUN THE BALL), he really does a fantastic job of quietly developing the roster to mix in a lot of young guys who can contribute effectively.
I think we should start adding Avant, 26, to that list. He may not be a #1, but he looks to be an emerging weapon.
BTW, I lived in Ann Arbor while Avant was at Michigan, and he was a quality #1 at the college level. he found ways to make big plays in critical situations (and I’m a PSU fan.) They had better athletes on that team, but Avant was the Man.
Sorry, I meant their runs of NFC East titles in the early 2000s, not the 90s (sorry, the Hoying/Pedersen teams weren’t winning much).
Pete – I think you are way jumping the gun on Maclin – “seen nothing to indicate he can be a #1 in the league”. First of all, who cares? Nobody can ever figure out what a #1 WR is in the league anyway?
What is wrong with having Harrison (DeSean) and Wayne (Maclin). That is who Maclin reminds me of – a young Reggie Wayne. That is the upside. Good enough? Was Wayne considered #1 when Harrison was in his prime? No, but his value wasn’t doubted – call it 1A.
Breaking tackles comes with increased strength. You don’t see that with WR until their 3rd year. Maclin still has a college body. Only the speedsters can make an immediate impact in the pros. Jackson doesn’t break tackles either – he runs past possible tacklers. Maclin doesn’t have that raw speed, but I see every indication that as he puts on muscle he will add breaking tackles to the package. We could see a Reggie Wayne or even the talent of a TO down the line.
Pete, you are right. My numbers were off for this season because factored in 9 games instead of the team’s 10 by accident. But if you extrapolate for a 16 game season based only off of his numbers as a starter (remember he barely played the first two games) then you get 70 receptions, 930 yards, and 8 TDs. That performance isn’t too shabby, especially when you consider only 4 rookie receivers have caught 60 balls since 2000 (DJax being one).
Either way though, you’re being wayyyy too harsh. All the things that make me think he could be a #1 receiver:
He picked up the offense quickly and runs good routes already.
He’s fast. Maybe not DJax’s level, but he’s got some serious straight-line speed.
He’s got the frame to put on another 10 pounds to start breaking tackles.
He (unlike others I could mention) doesn’t fumble.
He can burn one-on-one coverage right now. The KC game was proof.
What more exactly are you looking for?
I’m not “looking” for anything. I think he’s a great WR. But I haven’t seen anything from him, physically or skill wise, that puts him in a #1 WR discussion. Not necessarily a bad thing. But when I think of a #1 guy, I think of elite talent – Andre Johnson, Randy Moss, Larry Fitz, Brandon Marshall, even DeSean. Maclin is solid in every area, but I haven’t seen anything SPECTACULAR about him. Again, not a complaint, just an observation.