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Week 1 Game Recap: Philadelphia Eagles 13, Green Bay Packers 16
What you need to know
| Philadelphia Eagles |
QB Donovan McNabb had a tough day, only connecting on 15 of 33 passes. He was constantly pressured by the Green Bay defensive tackles. His interception came when scrambling from the rush, somehow missing the fact that Nick Barnett was directly between Brian Westbrook and himself. The Eagles often got themselves in third and long situations, and McNabb did not convert many of them.
RB Brian Westbrook showed that he was still the obvious focus of the offense. He was targeted by McNabb 12 times and rushed the ball 20 times. He showed he can still beat defenders in the open field, specifically beating A.J. Hawk in the flat on a short pass. He did drop a few passes from McNabb, but he was often the check down so in general McNabb was rushed when he was passing to Westbrook, catching only six of the 12 attempts thrown his way.
WR Reggie Brown was a disappointment throughout the game. McNabb and Brown had a lack of synergy during the game. Whether it was an errant pass or a wrong cut, Brown only made one catch out of the six times he was targeted. Jason Avant showed promise throughout, catching three balls, including a critical first down and a touchdown catch on a drive in the second quarter. He saw play in three and four WR sets, and it looks like he is locked in the third spot in the depth chart.
| Green Bay Packers |
Green Bay scored 13 of its 16 points off of turnovers. They recovered two muffed punts by the Eagles, recovering one in the end zone for a touchdown and the other with fewer than two minutes left in the game, which led to the game winning field goal by Mason Crosby. Crosby is a rookie from Colorado who kicked a perfect game.
QB Brett Favre had a tough game, but fought through it showing experience and that dash of improvisation that he is known for. He showed he still has a touch of magic, on a third down play on part of their 13 play FG drive; he was spun around by two defenders in the backfield and before he got sacked flipped it to DeShawn Wynn in the backfield who took it for an 18 yard gain and a first down. Favre still has the tendency to try to create sometimes where nothing is available, throwing one interception and another pass that should have been intercepted but was dropped by Takeo Spikes.
RB Brandon Jackson was featured as the starting RB. Vernand Morency did not play due to his knee injury, so DeShawn Wynn saw limited action as the backup to Jackson. Jackson did not have much success against the Eagles run defense, gaining less than three yards per carry.
WR Donald Driver led Green Bay in receiving with 66 yards. He was targeted 13 times, proving to be Favre's favorite target. James Jones got the start opposite Driver due to Greg Jennings resting his hamstring. He had three receptions early, but ended up with only four receptions after four quarters (eight targets). Donald Lee and Bubba Franks basically split the tight end targets from Favre, but Franks only caught the ball twice while being targeted six times.
What you ought to know
| QB Donovan McNabb, Pass: 15 - 33 - 184 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 4 - 9 - 0 |
McNabb did not live up to the expectations during this game. He was inaccurate, completing only 45% of his passes, although four of those passes were dropped. McNabb could not stay in the pocket often due to the middle rush of Green Bay; however he only ran the ball four times. This pressure from Green Bay kept McNabb from getting into a rhythm, causing his performance to suffer.
| RB Brian Westbrook, Rush: 20 - 85 - 0, Rec: 6 - 46 - 0 (12 targets) |
Westbrook had a solid game, as he showed he still has the ability to find small holes and break tackles, as well as be the versatile backfield weapon he has been in the past. He split out as a WR from the backfield several times. He dropped two passes and the ball was batted down twice when he was targeted. He was very patient running the ball allowing the offensive line to produce a hole, and it looked like he always got the maximum yards possible in running situations.
| RB Correll Buckhalter, Rush: 4 - 5 - 0, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (2 targets) |
Buckhalter saw limited action, as Brian Westbrook was featured as the Eagles' main backfield weapon. Buckhalter dropped one of the two balls thrown his way. On his rushing attempts the offensive line did not produce significant holes for him to get through, as it looked like he was running into a wall every time he had a rushing attempt.
| WR Jason Avant, Rec: 3 - 54 - 1 (4 targets) |
Avant had a good game, solidifying his spot as the number three WR. He caught three of the four balls thrown his way, including a touchdown where he was forced to fight for the last couple of yards to get into the end zone. It seemed like after the touchdown drive, the Packers paid more attention to Avant causing his targets to be low, since Avant had two big plays during the Eagles' touchdown drive.
| WR Kevin Curtis, Rec: 2 - 53 - 0 (5 targets) |
Curtis was targeted most often by McNabb when Curtis was down the field. They connected on a 37 yard play and a 16 yard play, the other three times he was covered well.
| WR Reggie Brown, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (6 targets) |
Brown looked out of synch with McNabb throughout the game. It seemed like he could not get open against the Green Bay secondary, and when McNabb did try to target him it seemed either forced into a small space or a poor throw. He dropped one ball, caught one, and all the other targets were well covered or unable to be caught.
| TE L.J. Smith, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (2 targets) |
Smith was a surprise to be ready for this game. As late as Saturday, it looked like his sore groin might keep him out. He played but failed to be a significant part of the offense, only being targeted twice. It seemed like throughout the game, the Eagles went to three and four WR sets as opposed to having Smith in the game.
| PK David Akers 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Akers had a perfect performance Sunday. All of his kicks were dead on and he even had to redo a field goal due to a ten yard holding penalty, which did not faze him.
| PHI Rush Defense |
The Eagles featured three new linebackers, and they proved to be strong against the run. They held the Packers to 46 yards rushing on 16 attempts. They were consistent throughout the game, never allowing a run of ten yards or more.
| PHI Pass Defense |
The Eagles' secondary played well, causing Favre to spend extra time in the pocket very often. The longest pass they allowed was 22 yards, although there was one play on third and short when Favre overthrew James Jones when Jones had two steps on the cornerback.
| QB Brett Favre, Pass: 23 - 42 - 206 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - -2 - 0 |
Favre battled through this game. The Green Bay offense struggled to produce, only creating one scoring drive that was not the result of a turnover. Favre led that drive by creating plays when the pressure was on him, literally. Twice he produced completions while an Eagle defender was in the process of bringing him down. He worked the hard count on every play, revealing where the defenders were blitzing from. Favre did make a couple of bad decisions, but only had one interception result from them. He tried to avoid a sack and pass to Franks but Takeo Spikes was in perfect position for the interception, which likely would have been returned for a touchdown; however Spikes dropped the ball. Favre also fumbled late in the second half when he was hit preparing to throw the ball, but the defense held the Eagles to a three and out.
| RB Brandon Jackson, Rush: 15 - 40 - 0, Rec: 4 - 35 - 0 (6 targets) |
Jackson started his first game in the NFL. He had problems finding space in the running game, which might be attributed to the Eagle's run defense. He had a jittery start dropping an easy pass with a lot of open field ahead of him early, but seemed to bounce back catching four balls after that. He had a couple of moves throughout the game that opened eyes, as he made exceptional cuts in the open field.
| RB DeShawn Wynn, Rush: 1 - 8 - 0, Rec: 1 - 18 - 0 (1 targets) |
Wynn saw limited action, but was part of a spectacular play with Favre which eventually led to a field goal. He caught a shovel pass while Favre was getting sacked and took it for 18 yards and a first down.
| RB Vernand Morency |
He did not play due to a knee injury.
| WR Donald Driver, Rec: 6 - 66 - 0 (13 targets) |
Driver had a difficult game, but showed he still has chemistry with Favre. He only caught six of the 13 passes thrown his way. Favre would often throw to Driver in double coverage, which led to the poor ratio. Driver definitely was a focus of the secondary of the Eagles.
| WR James Jones, Rec: 4 - 29 - 0 (8 targets) |
Jones was the number two WR for Green Bay this game because Jennings was out due to a hamstring injury. On Green Bays' third series, they ran two plays for Jones and he caught them both, yielding a first down. After this though it seemed tough for Jones to create much space, as he only caught two more balls the rest of the game.
| WR Ruvell Martin, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (5 targets) |
Martin only caught two balls, but the other three passes his way were not his fault. He showed average hands, and Favre was not afraid to throw to him. Martin will probably move down the depth chart when Greg Jennings comes back from his hamstring injury.
| TE Donald Lee, Rec: 4 - 27 - 0 (4 targets) |
Lee caught all four balls thrown his way. It is possible that he saw more playing time in the second half due to Bubba Franks dropping two passes during the game. All of his catches were for short gains, gaining nine on his longest catch.
| TE Bubba Franks, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (6 targets) |
Franks had two dropped passes, significantly hurting drives both times. It seemed like Donald Lee got more playing time after the second dropped pass, since Lee was not targeted in the first half and received four targets in the second half. Franks did have one nice shoestring catch in the game, going for a first down.
| PK Mason Crosby 3 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 10 points |
Crosby played exceptionally well for a rookie. He made three field goals, and they were all well within the uprights. On the game winning field goal, he was lined up directly in the middle of the hashes, which could have helped ease the pressure of the kick. He showed he had power to kick 60 yard field goals when he made his 53 yard field goal with ease.
| GB Rush Defense |
The Green Bay rush defense was solid throughout the game, holding the Eagles to 103 yards on 29 attempts. They gave up a couple of long runs to Brian Westbrook due to the ends pinching in too soon and Philadelphia pitching the ball outside. Without the 11 yard run by Westbrook, they gave up under 3.3 yards per carry.
| GB Pass Defense |
The Green Bay pass defense was superb throughout the game. They held Donovan McNabb to 184 yards. Al Harris hurt his elbow early in the game, but he came back and had a nice defensive play in the end zone on a deep pass to Kevin Curtis. Although Green Bay only had one sack, they pressured McNabb often and this led McNabb to have problems getting into a groove.
