How did the Eagles do Thursday night against the Ravens?
Pederson unexpectedly rolls out his healthy 1st-stringers against Ravens
In a surprise move, Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson sent almost all the first-team players who have been cleared for full contact out onto the field against the Baltimore Ravens for preseason game No. 3 on Thursday night.
Quarterback Carson Wentz seemed like the only exception. But with the offensive line still not at full strength — Halapoulivaati Vaitai is at right guard in place of Brandon Brooks and Jordan Mailata is at right tackle filling in for Lane Johnson — Pederson wasn’t taking any chances, especially with Nate Sudfeld already out.
Here’s what jumped out:
Alas, what we saw from the Eagles’ starters was less than inspiring: a series of starts, stops, misplays and miscommunications that netted just two first downs, 45 yards and nothing close to a score in the first quarter and more of the same in the second.
As a result, the Eagles went to intermission trailing 26-0. They had 122 net yards, six first downs and 12 penalties for 90 yards.
Cody Kessler, knocked out of the Eagles’ game at Jacksonville the week before with a concussion, started once again at quarterback but couldn’t get anything going. His lone passing highlight was an 18-yard completion over the middle to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, who showed the strength and power to bounce off Jimmy Smith and Kenny Young as he hauled it in.
Kessler finished 3-for-5 for 34 yards.
If there was one Eagles bright spot in the first quarter, it was the strong return to action of running back Corey Clement from a knee sprain. Clement displayed his strong running style right away with a 4-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage and an 11-yard burst on third-and-6 to gain one of their precious few first downs.
New quarterback Josh McCown in the second quarter was able to drive the Eagles from their 23-yard line to the Baltimore 23 with the help of a 15-yard completion to Greg Ward and a 14-yarder to Carlton Agudosi. But they couldn’t get any points as Jake Elliott missed a field-goal attempt from 41 yards.
Rough night for Mailata. In the first quarter, he was called for illegal formation. In the second, his false start helped squelch their longest, most sustained drive of the half, turning a second-and-7 from the Baltimore 24 into a second-and-12 and, after two more pre-snap penalties on the offensive line, Elliott’s failed field-goal attempt.
Stefen Wisniewski, once the most dependable backup offensive lineman on this team, is anything but that now. He has struggled with snapping the ball all summer and in this game was called for a false start that helped derail the Eagles’ only drive into Baltimore territory.
Penn State’s Trace McSorley started at quarterback for the Ravens and was remarkably efficient, especially for a rookie. He shredded the Eagles’ defense for 203 passing yards and a pair of touchdown passes, completing 16 of 24 attempts.
It’s only one preseason game, but McSorley looks much more poised, polished and talented than Eagles rookie quarterback Clayton Thorson, taking one round earlier in the draft.