6 Things From The Eagles' Preseason Win Over The Steelers
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Hey, don't look now. The Eagles are 2-0.
In all seriousness, while it's just the preseason, the Eagles are doing some good things. Especially on defense.
Here are six things I wanted to point out about Thursday night's game.
6. Seven interceptions in two preseason games
First and foremost, their seven INTs came off of Landry Jones (4), Ryan Griffin (2), and Mike Glennon (1). I get that. So I'm not going crazy over it. Having said that, it's nice to see. As a team, the Eagles had 15 total interceptions in 16 regular season games last year, so seven in two preseason games is impressive no matter whichever way you slice it.
Next week, the Eagles' secondary will face a true test against Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, and the Indianapolis Colts.
5. Jaylen Watkins continued to make plays
Shining as the brightest Eagles' defensive player in the preseason opener last week with a couple of pass breakups, Watkins followed that performance up with a sweet second quarter interception on Thursday night.
Watkins looks like the favorite to be the Eagles' No. 3 safety this season.
4. The starting offense is far from exciting
But we knew this. The Eagles are going to win games by creating turnovers, taking care of the ball, dominating field position, and controlling the clock. On Thursday, Sam Bradford completed 14 of 19 passes for just 115 yards. That's 6.1 yards per pass attempt. For context, last year Nick Foles' yards per attempt was 6.09, which was 34th in the NFL.
I know, I know, the offense was "vanilla" as Bradford said after the game. After all, the Eagles and Steelers play each other in Week 3 of the regular season and they were missing their top wide receiver in Jordan Matthews and their explosive new play maker (hopefully) in Dorial Green-Beckham. But I don't completely buy that. I don't expect this team to create, or attempt, many big plays all season long.
3. Nelson Agholor had a polarizing night
At least there was flashes tonight, for last year's first-round pick. Agholor went up and snagged a Bradford pass on a 3rd-and-12 late in the first half, but then dropped the ensuing short pass. Overall, he caught two passes for 30 yards on three targets. Hey, it's something.
2. Brandon Graham is a good football player
TFL = tackle for loss
I was a Brandon Graham skeptic for awhile. Graham, the 13th overall pick in 2010, got off to a slow start in his career but has blossomed into a really solid football player. Last night, he showed more of that, especially against the run.
1. Pump the brakes on Paul Turner
I love what we've seen from Paul Turner, I really do. But this stuff happens for bottom-of-the-depth-chart receivers in exhibition games all over the NFL (see: Spruce, Nelson - Hard Knocks). It happened here with Rasheed Bailey last year.
Turner, 23, caught a combined 87 catches for 1,171 yards in two seasons at Louisiana Tech. The 5-10, 193-pound receiver ran a 4.60 yard dash, which is in the 27th percentile and gives him a 14th-percentile height-adjusted speed score of 82.7.
Could Turner make an NFL roster? Sure.
But nine catches for 78 yards in two preseason games does not automatically grant him a spot. While the Eagles certainly do not have dominate players at the receiver position, they do have a bunch of guys: Jordan Matthews, Rueben Randle, Dorial Green-Beckham, Chris Givens, Josh Huff, Nelson Agholor, and even T.J. Graham to go along with Turner. DGB, Randle, and Givens have actual NFL production on their resume, albeit minimal.
They're only keeping five, maybe six, wide receivers, so don't freak out when your boy Turner doesn't make the roster.
