The Eagles’ scouting report to start this game probably included controlling the clock and the line of scrimmage with the running game. Well, the Eagles had some offensive success, but they did it a little bit differently. Instead of the Eagles coming out running the football, they came out throwing on first down. The result was they had the Patriots defense off balance all quarter long. Foles was surgical in his performance, completing eight of eleven passes for 101 yards. And after stalling in the first drive the Eagles hit two big plays with a LeGarrette Blount 36 yard run and then Foles uncorked a deep pass to Alshon Jeffery, giving the Eagles a 9-3 lead. For the Eagles, they must continue to mix things up and keep the Patriots off balance.
Unfortunately, defensively the Eagles were not having some of the same luck. They were in the right places sometimes and not in them at others. The perfect example is when the Eagles had Brady dead-to-rights in the backfield and he broke contain. Instead of the cornerback keeping up with his assignment, he allowed Danny Amendola to get behind him and make a huge play. Now that play ended up ultimately not hurting them because of a missed field goal in the second quarter, but those kinds of miscues cannot happen if they want to win a Super Bowl versus the Patriots.
Offensively, look for the Eagles to continue to mix thins up and also keep the pressure on the Patriots. For their defense, they have to be more disciplined because if they continue missing on key assignments, Brady will eventually get them and it could be a crucial mistake. Along with the crucial mistakes on defense, Seth Elliot’s mixed extra point in the first quarter could loom large, especially if Brady and the Patriots get going. You cannot make many mistakes and beat Brady and the Patriots. We shall see what the rest of the second quarter brings us.
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Patriots came out throwing the in-and-out patterns, dumping off to running backs and combination patterns. Two plays where it hurt the Eagles were when the Patriots caught the Eagles with a linebacker on James White, getting a big gain for 15 yards and on a crossing pattern to Chris Hogan and he was wide open and got 28 yards. Eagles seemed to have some confusion at that point. As the game goes on, they must work out those communication issues to sure up coverage.
Eagles bucking the trend and coming out throwing on first down more. Play action after a big run by LeGarrette Blount on second down finds Foles hitting Alshon Jeffery with a 34 yard pass, which the athletic receiver made a great
