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Week 1 Game Recap: St. Louis Rams 3, Philadelphia Eagles 38
What you need to know
| St. Louis Rams |
The entire offensive unit struggled. Philadelphia was able to get pressure with their blitz packages and line stunts. The Rams offensive line struggled with blocking and getting much room for running back Steven Jackson. They did not enter the red zone and had ten straight drives end in a punt to start the game.
The biggest head scratching happening was Torry Holt only catching one ball the entire day. There were no indications of Holt being injured in any way, yet he was nearly invisible.
Randy McMichael was the lone bright spot. Bulger seemed to have chemistry with McMichael as he was targeted frequently with some success. It appeared that McMichael was the very definition of a safety value as Bulger ran for his life at times. This was really the only thing St Louis had working the entire game.
| Philadelphia Eagles |
Bombs away! Philadelphia displayed a balanced offense with a penchant for hitting big plays in the passing game. The Eagles imposed their will right from the start of the game and never let up. McNabb hooked up for multiple long gains and TD receptions. The running game was able to pick up chunks of yards at a time.
Anyone concerned over McNabb having a sore or tired arm can put those thoughts to bed. McNabb threw the ball 33 times and displayed excellent zip and accuracy on the ball.
DeSean Jackson had a stellar performance both receiving and returning the numerous St Louis punts. Jackson accounted for over 200 all purpose yards. The opening play of the game was a long pass down the sideline to Jackson for 47 yards. There was no looking back for the Eagles as the Rams had no answers for their offense.
What you ought to know
| QB Marc Bulger, Pass: 14 - 26 - 158 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Plain and simple, this was an ugly game for Marc Bulger. He was under constant pressure and faced many a blitz from Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. Bulger and the Rams went 0-11 on third down conversions. In the first half Bulger looked out of sorts and needed to burn two separate time outs. However, even when there wasn't pressure Bulger appeared confused and many of his throws were off of his back foot. To be fair, the score was certainly a factor as the Eagles raced out to a quick 14 point lead and the Rams game plan was likely out the window too.
| RB Steven Jackson, Rush: 14 - 40 - 0, Rec: 3 - 34 - 0 (9 targets) |
The Eagles did a great job of containing Jackson both in the running and passing game. Jackson had 17 total touches for the game but never really got untracked. The Rams offense suffered multiple sacks and penalties that prevented Jackson from ever really getting into a rhythm. The holdout situation did not appear to be a factor in this slow start to the year. The credit should go to a strong Eagles defense and blowout situation.
| WR Dante Hall, Rush: 1 - -4 - 0, Rec: 3 - 13 - 0 (3 targets) |
Hall had a quiet day. He was primarily targeted underneath and very short with his longest catch of the day being for only six yards.
| WR Drew Bennett, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
Bennett caught one ball before leaving the game with an apparent injury.
| WR Dane Looker, Rec: 1 - 21 - 0 (4 targets) |
Looker was a non factor in the game only grabbing one ball for 21 yards and drawing a defensive penalty.
| WR Torry Holt, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (2 targets) |
Despite the fact that his team was trailing throughout this contest Holt was only targeted twice during the entire game. For a former Pro Bowl receiver this was odd to say the least. Philadelphia does boast a pair of excellent corners in Samuel and Sheppard. The combination of coverage and pressure up front didn't allow Holt to work up field.
| WR Keenan Burton (1 targets) |
Burton did not make a reception on his lone target.
| TE Randy McMichael, Rec: 5 - 77 - 0 (7 targets) |
McMichael was the lone bright light for the team catching five of his seven targets for 71 yards. McMichael showed a knack of finding the soft spots in the zones and ran precise routes. He had a couple of nice catches on seem routes that he displayed some good yards after the catch for a TE.
| PK Josh Brown 1 - 1 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 3 points |
Brown scored the Rams' only points with a 46 yard field goal.
| STL Rush Defense |
The Philadelphia offense dictated what they wanted to do. The front seven of the defense was pushed around and often the Eagles were running five to seven yards untouched.
| STL Pass Defense |
This group was confused on several plays where coverage was dropped entirely. Wide receivers were running down the field uncovered on a couple of occasions. The secondary gave up multiple big gains of over 50 yards, the biggest being a 90 yard bomb to Hank Baskett right before the half.
| QB Donovan McNabb, Pass: 21 - 33 - 361 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0 |
It was apparent from the opening drive that McNabb was in control and command of his offense. After marching the team down the field, the drive ended with a one yard TD pass to Brian Westbrook. On the play, McNabb audibled and the backs ended up switching to a split formation usually indicating the backs are likely going to pass block. Cleverly, the play was an inside shovel pass to Westbrook who found no trouble hitting pay dirt.
This was McNabb's best ever opening game as a professional. He had a gaudy line completing 21 of 33 for a whopping 361 yards and 3 scores in just 3 and half quarters of football. Behind a well protected pocket McNabb dissected the Rams secondary and hit big play after big play. The Eagles despite having their top two receivers out of the game threw the ball at will on the hapless Rams secondary. The Eagles success came from a committee approach as three separate receivers went for over 100 yards.
| QB Kevin Kolb, Pass: 5 - 6 - 53 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - -3 - 0 |
Kolb came into the game with about nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the score completely out of reach. Coach Andy Reid was clearly protecting his starter McNabb as there was nothing left to play for. Kolb continued right were McNabb had left off. He was accurate on his passes, most of them being of the short and high percentage variety.
| RB Brian Westbrook, Rush: 19 - 91 - 1, Rec: 2 - 1 - 1 (4 targets) |
Westbrook had a strong game and was the focus of the Rams defense. The Rams appeared to try and take away the short passing to the RB. However, he still managed to score on a 1 yard shovel pass to open the scoring. His best run of the day was a draw play that he bounced outside to the right and finished it off with plowing over a member of the Rams secondary for a sizable gain.
Of note: On Tony Hunt's one yard touchdown, Westbrook was not in the game when the Eagles had their goal line formation in. The formation had Hunt and Dan Klecko as a full back.
| RB Lorenzo Booker, Rush: 5 - 9 - 0 |
Booker got most of his carries when the other starters came out in the fourth quarter. He was not overly effective running for only nine yards on five carries.
| RB Tony Hunt, Rush: 2 - 3 - 1, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets) |
Hunt scored on a dive play from the one yard line and followed his lead blocker Dan Klecko across the stripe.
| RB Correll Buckhalter, Rush: 2 - 5 - 0 |
Buckhalter was used sparingly and had two carries for five yards, his long being a run of seven yards.
| WR DeSean Jackson, Rec: 6 - 106 - 0 (9 targets) |
The highly touted rookie came to play and did not disappoint his fans. He caught six balls for 106 yards. He set the tone for the entire game as he hauled in a 47 yarder to start the game. Jackson displayed excellent hands as several of his catches were in tight coverage. It will be interesting to see how Jackson will be used once Brown and Curtis return to the Eagles line up.
| WR Greg Lewis, Rec: 5 - 104 - 0 (7 targets) |
Lewis was McNabb's third option today behind rookie Jackson and LJ Smith. McNabb showed confidence in Lewis completing 5 passes for 104 yards. The longest catch was for 52 yards immediately following a Rams punt that had pinned the Eagles deep in their own end. This killed any chance the Rams had to stop the bleeding and possibly change the momentum of the game.
| WR Jason Avant, Rec: 3 - 45 - 0 (4 targets) |
Avant had a solid game catching three of his four targets for the day and totaling 45 yards for the game.
| WR Hank Baskett, Rec: 2 - 102 - 1 (3 targets) |
Baskett is clearly seen as a deep threat. Two of his targets were deep, one being a Hail Mary pass to end the half which was incomplete. However, on his 90 yard TD he displayed his fantastic speed with no one from the Rams being even close to him with Baskett still being some 30 yards from the goal line.
| TE L.J. Smith, Rec: 5 - 39 - 1 (10 targets) |
Eagles fans are happy to see a healthy L. J. Smith again. He has always been one of McNabb's favorite weapons. This game was no different as Smith was the player thrown at the most. Of his ten targets, six of them came in the red zone converting one of them for a score from 5 yards out. It was a nice catch at the back of the end zone.
| TE Brent Celek, Rec: 2 - 15 - 0 (2 targets) |
Came into the game during the fourth quarter when the other starters left. He had a good rapport with Kolb and caught two medium range balls for a total of 15 yards.
| PK David Akers 1 - 1 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 8 points |
Akers converted five extra points attempts and also a 23 yard field goal attempt.
| PHI Rush Defense |
The Eagles did a bang up job limiting Pro Bowl running back Steven Jackson and the Rams to just 36 rushing yards. Any time that you get this type of performance from your defense it sure makes it easy to win football games in the NFL.
| PHI Pass Defense |
The Rams only amassed 130 yards in the passing game. The Eagles brought constant pressure and blitzed the Rams' gaps getting to Bulger four times for sacks. There were also countless knock downs and rushed throws. It was a dominant day from top to bottom for the Eagles.