Knee Jerk Reactions: Chase Daniel Sort Of Ruined The Preseason Opener
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – I know it's preseason and I'm a naturally optimistic person, I promise, but that was pretty gross.
The Eagles started hot with a fumble recovery on the opening kickoff and a quick three play touchdown drive, but then Chase Daniel came in. And things got ugly, and stayed ugly.
Carson Wentz entered late in the first half and tried to salvage the night for us, but ultimately he couldn't really ever get rid of the permanent stink that Daniel put on it.
• Sam Bradford came in for three plays, was 1-1, and handed to Ryan Mathews for a touchdown.
• No clue why Bradford didn't play more.
• I'll keep saying it: Mathews is the best Eagles' player to own in fantasy.
• Brandon Brooks left the game after the first drive with a right bicep injury.
• Chase Daniel was putrid, finishing 4-10 with 15 yards while taking four sacks for -19 yards. He made the first half unwatchable and pretty much ruined the game, possibly the evening.
• The offensive line and wide receivers didn't help, in fairness to Daniel.
• From Andrew Gardner, to Dennis Kelly, to Josh Andrews guys were getting beat upfront all over the place.
• Josh Huff fumbled in the first half, because that's what he does best.
• And Nelson Agholor was invisible, because, well that's what he does best.
• The Eagles had negative passing yards until Carson Wentz came into the game with 1:19 remaining in the first half.
Watch Carson Wentz Highlights here
• And Wentz looked decent for his first pro game.
• He was comfortable in the pocket and made some nice throws under pressure and on the run.
• Wentz even handled a third quarter bad snap nicely, recovered it, rolled to his right, threw the ball away, and received a nice hand from the crowd.
• He also, of course, dealt with some drops -- including a bad one from Zach Ertz on a slightly high throw killing Wentz's first drive at the end of the first half.
• No idea why Ertz was still in the game at that point, late in the first half, but he was.
• After orchestrating a really nice third quarter drive, Wentz was hit and threw an interception in the red zone.
• Wentz took a big, scary hit on a 3rd-and-7 six-yard zone-read carry – the type where his legs fly up in the air and everyone says, "OK, that's enough. Get him out of there."
• But he does look like an athletically dynamic quarterback and that's exciting.
• TJ Graham had an egregious drop early in the third quarter that I wrote down in my notes and felt obligated to put in this post, that's how bad the drop was.
• Paul Turner had a bunch of catches and played well.
• Ps. The Eagles have so many "just a guy" guys at wide receiver.
• Defensively, the corners looked terrible in the first half, none worse than Jalen Mills.
• Not going to kill Mills – a 7th round pick playing in his first game – too much, but he was beaten badly multiple times.
• Eric Rowe and Leodis McKelvin also struggled.
• Ron Brooks did make a nice third down tackle to force a TB punt.
• Safety Jaylen Watkins, who is having his second straight solid training camp, had two pass breakups. He has a good chance to be the Eagles' No. 3 safety.
• Up front, things were better as Fletcher Cox lead the charge with a sack, strip, and fumble recovery all in the same play.
• Najee Goode and Chris Maragos has nice games. Goode forced a fumble on the opening kickoff and had a QB hurry in the second half. Maragos had a big hit on special teams and an interception as a safety on defense.
