New Eagles Wallace, Goedert ready to pass tests
PHILADELPHIA » Their first Lombardi Trophy already on site, the Eagles had a few plans to make it a habit. For one, they decided, their pass-receiving staff could use a casual make-over.
So while the confetticleanup continued on the Parkway, Torrey Smith was traded to Atlanta, and longago Pro Bowl receiver Mike Wallace was signed as a free agent. Later, the Birds used their first draft choice to select tight end Dallas Goedert, then hardly formed a human chain to prevent Brent Celek from retiring.
The particulars, the cash, the age differences, all mattered in those exchanges. Nor was pass-catching the only area seemingly improved. But as far as the point-scoring-effort went, the Birds would begin their world-championship encore with Wallace and not Smith, and with Goedert and not Celek.
Not that one game against a presumptive NFC contender can be considered information overload, but in the Birds’ 18-12 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, they did not produce a touchdown pass. Wallace, lured from Baltimore with a one-year, $4 million offer, was targeted only three times and did not catch a pass. Goedert, also targeted three times by Nick Foles, caught one four-yard pass, had a pass bounce out of his hands for an interception and was unable to get both feet down in the end zone for what might have been a touchdown.
Even with offensive pillars Nelson Agholor catching eight passes and Zach Ertz five, the production from the two newly arrived difference-makers was insufficient.
“Most definitely,” Wallace was saying after practice Monday at the NovaCare Complex, when asked if additional work is required. “Just connecting on some of those deep passes, if we knock those out, those are big plays in the game, and a big difference in the game. So I think we did a good job with alignment and assignment, getting some of the wrinkles out in our first extended play in a real game.
“Just to come out and get a feel, it felt good. But like I said, we want to connect on some of those big plays.”
Goedert had some bigplay opportunities, including one early in the fourth, when he almost caught a pass but was disrupted by an aggressive play by Damontae Kazee, the ball bouncing loose. Deion Jones intercepted. Two plays later, Atlanta scored to take a 1210 lead.
“We talked about it,” Goedert said. “It was kind of a bang-bang play. It was unfortunate. I feel I have pretty good hands. So usually I catch it out in front of me. The coaches said that might be one where you can trap-catch with the body to take the hit. You never want that to happen, but that’s kind of what it was.
“It happened quick. Obviously, it’s a bummer when an interception happens like that and it’s on you. But I have to be better. Just hang onto it. You are going to be hit.”
In the second quarter, Goedert nearly caught a 19yard Foles pass in the end zone, but covered by Duke Riley, he could not get both feet down.
“I mean, I was pretty close,” Goedert said. “I think I got one foot in. Obviously, that’s something I need to work on as well. I know I have to get two feet in. The ball was up there. I tried to make a play on it. I just have to be more aware to get the other foot down.”
One game into the season, without their quarterback of choice or the injured Alshon Jeffery, the Eagles are still trying to find their offensive footing. But Smith did provide 408 receiving yards and two touchdown catches last season. And Celek, while slowing at 32, provided 130 receiving yards.
But … there is time for the changes to matter. Plenty, actually.
“We still got the win,” said Wallace, a Pro Bowl receiver for the Steelers in 2011. “The only thing we do when we come to the stadium is get a win. So we got up out of there with that. That’s what we wanted. A win is a win. And in this league, that’s tough. So we’ll take it.”