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Eagles @ Colts

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By ALAN FERGUSON

STATS Writer

(AP) -- The Philadelphia Eagles produced a stirring comeback victory in their season opener despite losing a pair of offensive linemen to an already short-handed group.

With Robert Mathis suspended, the Indianapolis Colts' defense failed to generate much pressure while dropping the first game and now likely won't have the NFL's reigning sack leader for the rest of the season.

With their retooled offensive line, the Eagles will try for a rare 2-0 start Monday night when they visit a Colts team attempting to avoid its second 0-2 start in 16 seasons.

Philadelphia's prospects for a victory didn't appear promising this past Sunday when it trailed 17-0 at halftime to visiting Jacksonville. The Eagles were also forced to play the second half without All-Pro left guard Evan Mathis (knee) and right tackle Allen Barbre (ankle), who was filling in for a suspended Lane Johnson.

Replacements Andrew Gardner and David Molk provided enough protection for quarterback Nick Foles' quick turnaround from a lackluster first half in a 34-17 victory. Foles fumbled twice and had an interception in the first 20 minutes, nearly matching his four turnovers from last season.

He went 12 of 24 for 139 yards in the first half before completing 15 of 21 throws for 183 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the final 30 minutes. Foles' 68-yard TD in the fourth quarter to Jeremy Maclin, making his return from a torn right ACL that kept him out in 2013, gave Philadelphia the lead for good.

The Eagles will try to use the momentum from that victory for their third 2-0 start since 1993. They won their first two games in 2012 and their first seven in 2004.

Philadelphia, though, won't have Barbre for the rest of the season and Mathis for at least eight weeks. Johnson is suspended for three more games due to a violation of the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

Last season, the Eagles had the same offensive linemen for 17 games, including a playoff loss. They helped LeSean McCoy rush for a franchise-best 1,607 yards and the team to multiple records in coach Chip Kelly's first season.

Philadelphia signed former Pro Bowl guard and 11-year veteran Wade Smith on Tuesday and elevated tackle Kevin Graf from the practice squad. It's unknown, however, what the line will look like Monday night.

Dennis Kelly, inactive in Week 1, might start at left guard. Backup tackle Matt Tobin could remain out with an injured ankle.

"All the guys that are active have a chance to play, and we could make a roster move again," offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur told the Eagles' official website. "So we'll just sort it out as we go. Anybody that's active can start, so that's the way we're going to take it."

The Eagles weren't going to have to face Mathis, who had a career-high 19 1/2 sacks last season, because he's serving a four-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. Now, the rest of the league likely won't have to as well after he tore his Achilles tendon during a private workout in Atlanta.

The Colts, who totaled 42 sacks in 2013 to tie for 11th in the NFL, confirmed Thursday that he's out for the season.

Without Mathis last Sunday, Indianapolis got one sack on Peyton Manning in a 31-24 loss in Denver. His replacement, 2013 first-round draft pick Bjoern Werner, had no quarterback pressures and three tackles.

"We knew we were going to be without Robert for the first four games, but this is really a devastating blow for Robert and his family and this organization," coach Chuck Pagano said. "This one stings."

Indianapolis could have even more trouble getting pressure on an up-tempo Eagles offense as its seeks to avoid its second 0-2 start since 1998. The Colts dropped their first 13 games in 2011 and got a chance to draft quarterback Andrew Luck, who had 370 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions against Denver.

Luck will play his first game against Philadelphia, and the Colts are facing the Eagles for the first time since a 26-24 road loss Nov. 7, 2010, which snapped their four-game win streak in the series.

The Colts have won two of three home meetings since relocating from Baltimore, including 45-21 in the most recent one Nov. 26, 2006.

Source: Hosted.Stats.com

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I got a bad feeling about this one.

 

The Colts may be one-dimensional, but Luck will do dirty things to our secondary regardless. If Chad Henne can find holes, you think Andrew Luck will? Our defense is gonna give up some points.

 

On offense, I'm curious to see if/how we adjust our playcalling with an injured offensive line, and most importantly: will Nick Foles suck again?

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I feel like it's a dead even shoot out type game. Anything offensive that the Colts can do the Eagles can do. Foles may be a little inconsistent but he can make all the throws, which will lead to a lot of big plays this year. 34-24 :Eagles:

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Potential game of the week imo. Definite shootout potential, hard to pick a winner. I'm gonna give the edge to the Eagles because I like their playmakers more.

 

:Eagles: - 35

:Colts: - 30

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If the Eagles don't jump out to a large lead and the Colts close it at the end I'll be stunned.

 

:Colts: 34

:Eagles: 30

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33-30 Eagles. I'm so ready, I hate waiting until Monday night.

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I think this match up can go either way. I've had this game circled on my calendar since the schedules were released. Going against one of my favorite young players in the league who I think can be great. This has the chance to be a very exciting match up. I think we can beat them, but I think the Colts win this one. Their pass rush is lacking right now with Robert Mathis gone but they still have play makers in their secondary like Vontae Davis. I do expect us to run the ball a lot tonight and think McCoy and our TE's have big games. However, I think the Colts WR's severely outclass our secondary. I can only hope that our D-line gets some pressure. We have some nice players with potential, but we need consistency and our pass rush hasn't showed me that just yet besides Vinny Curry. I won't speak on Foles because last week shook me up with him not even looking like a NFL starter. Anyway, I hope we win because I would be ecstatic but I have the Colts squeezing us out for a win.

 

:Colts: 31

 

:Eagles: 27

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Colts declared ILB Jerrell Freeman, WR Da'Rick Rogers, RB Dion Lewis, OLB Chris Carter, C Khaled Holmes, C Jon Harrison, and OL Joe Reitz inactive for Week 2 versus the Eagles.

Freeman's (hamstring) loss is a big boost to LeSean McCoy and the entire Eagles' offense. Rogers is a healthy scratch as the No. 6 receiver, but remains a hold in Dynasty. Holmes still isn't over his preseason ankle injury.

 

 

 

Eagles declared OLB Marcus Smith, QB Matt Barkley, WR Josh Huff, CB Jaylen Watkins, OL Matt Tobin, OT Kevin Graf, and DE Taylor Hart inactive for Week 2 against the Colts.

Smith, the 26th overall pick in May, played zero snaps in Week 1 and isn't even dressing for Week 2. He's behind Brandon Graham and special teamers Emmanuel Acho and Bryan Braman. Barkley is the No. 3 QB. Huff has a bum shoulder.

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So Eagles fans-- are you concerned about how Foles has looked? Because I have to say I am not impressed really at all. He's had the stick throw here and there, but otherwise I've seen a lot of inaccurate balls and big plays on blown coverages or YAC.

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So Eagles fans-- are you concerned about how Foles has looked? Because I have to say I am not impressed really at all. He's had the stick throw here and there, but otherwise I've seen a lot of inaccurate balls and big plays on blown coverages or YAC.

 

Watching that game, I was not impressed with Foles. There seems to be no chemistry between him and his receivers, as though he doesn't trust them and much rather go with his checkdown options. He constantly missed open receivers during his read and would end up forcing a pass or just getting rid of it. When the Eagles went long, he overthrew his WRs every time except the pick. How many times did he put the ball behind the receiver as well?

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The Colts got screwed late by the refs, but they still shouldn't have let the Eagles hang around. And they still got the ball back with under three minutes left, and for some dumb reason decided to run the ball twice. Strange playcalling.

 

Oh, and Sproles. :wub:

Edited by SteVo

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Man, the Colts are 0-2, but can anyone else really win that division? Jags are a train-wreck, Houston has Ryan Fitzpatrick, and I don't know what to make of the Titans.

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So Eagles fans-- are you concerned about how Foles has looked? Because I have to say I am not impressed really at all. He's had the stick throw here and there, but otherwise I've seen a lot of inaccurate balls and big plays on blown coverages or YAC.

 

 

 

Watching that game, I was not impressed with Foles. There seems to be no chemistry between him and his receivers, as though he doesn't trust them and much rather go with his checkdown options. He constantly missed open receivers during his read and would end up forcing a pass or just getting rid of it. When the Eagles went long, he overthrew his WRs every time except the pick. How many times did he put the ball behind the receiver as well?

 

I'm no more concerned about the future of my QB after two comeback wins than Colts fans are after two games where they came up short. Luck looked about the same as Foles, if not a little worse. The game plan for both coaching staffs seemed to be about protecting the QB's . Perhaps because they weren't playing great but not sure. Foles missed some throws and but made some clutch ones too. Cooper had a couple of big drops including one in the endzone that was a perfectly thrown ball. I'd say a touch worried but a whole lot less than I would be if he were throwing away games instead of winning them.

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I was as excited about Sproles as any Eagles fan when we traded for him, but even I didn't expect him to have as big an impact as he has the first two games. Having either him or McCoy fresh at all times is going to be hell on opposing defenses.



I think my fellow Eagles fans were overreacting about us not throwing the ball down field. I think the Eagles were trying to force the Colts linebackers and safeties to make tackles and exploit match ups. The Eagles definitely took their shots, just didn't execute good enough with drops, penalties, overthrows etc. Not to mention the Eagles are on their 3rd RT and also missing arguably their best offensive lineman in Evan Mathis so attempting a bunch of down the field passes might have resulted in sacks or worse, turnovers.



Some concerns going forward...



As documented as my hatred is of Mychal Kendricks, I'm pretty terrified at the prospect of Casey Matthews getting extensive snaps. He's realllllly bad



Offensive line- LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles have both made plays running the ball because of their ability to make people miss, but the run blocking aside Peters and Kelce has been bad. Gonna be hard to get vertical in the passing game too if the pass protection isn't there. This is so crucial to getting off to a good start in games because we're a tempo offense that needs to get the run game going.


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Ok. I guess we will wait and see. As a 3rd party observer with no rooting interest, I'll say that I think Foles looks bad/inaccurate.

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Foles missed some throws. Some Easy throws and he threw a pick, but I had no problem with that INT at the end of the first half with like 30 seconds way down field. He hasn't looked like a franchise QB, but he didn't make bad decisions. He took what the defense gave him. It's only been two games, but if the Eagles are going to contend, Foles has to be much better. Right now they're likely good enough to win the division with him but the playoffs in the NFC is a tough road to hoe.

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Foles missed some throws. Some Easy throws and he threw a pick, but I had no problem with that INT at the end of the first half with like 30 seconds way down field. He hasn't looked like a franchise QB, but he didn't make bad decisions. He took what the defense gave him. It's only been two games, but if the Eagles are going to contend, Foles has to be much better. Right now they're likely good enough to win the division with him but the playoffs in the NFC is a tough road to hoe.

 

Yeah the Eagles as a team I have no issue with. They're impressive. But Foles' inaccuracy doesn't look great. We'll see how it develops.

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So Eagles fans-- are you concerned about how Foles has looked? Because I have to say I am not impressed really at all. He's had the stick throw here and there, but otherwise I've seen a lot of inaccurate balls and big plays on blown coverages or YAC.

 

I totally agree. Foles has looked very unimpressive in both games so far. He's been looking very indecisive and has been holding onto the ball way too long. Our receivers haven't necessarily been doing a good job getting open all the time but Foles has missed his fair share of easy passes several times in both games so far; wide open passes that should be an easy completion at the NFL level. He's been very inaccurate and that was a big part of his game last year. The only passes that he's been completing are the dink and dunk short passes which are primarily screens. Foles hasn't been able to pass down the field with any success. It looks like we have the Alex Smith gameplan going on with how Foles is currently being utilized. Maybe the coverage is more condensed since we don't have Desean Jackson stretching the field. I don't know yet but it appears that Foles was a huge benefactor of a great scheme and skilled play makers around him more then we realized. I hope that I'm wrong but I'm just going off of what I observed and I can truthfully say that it didn't look good.

Edited by Dutch

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It's interesting to watch unfold. The good news is that the offense can still go with his limitations if they persist. But one has to wonder if Chip will go hot after another QB in the offseason.

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I wholeheartedly believe Chip Kelly is the kind of guy that will do whatever it takes and will make whatever adjustment that needs to be made in order to better our football team. So if Foles continues to underwhelm, it would not be outside the realms of possibility for Chip Kelly to go after another guy. Who knows. That guy could be on our roster :ninja:

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