Today marked the first day that of the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens joint practice sessions. There was plenty to talk about at the end of the afternoon so we recapped the best of the days action!
#KindOfLikeParkey
Today wasn’t the Eagles’ kicker’s best day. After a shaky outing against the Colts, the worries continued as Parkey missed another three kicks. The closest was a PAT from 33 yards whilst he missed two from 40+ yards. Perhaps it’s just shaking off the rustiness from the off-season or perhaps he’s just losing consistency after such a solid year. He has fantastic talent and it’s evident that Chip believes he’s the guy to get the job done. Let’s hope he shows signs of improvement on Saturday.
Too fast, too furious
The Ravens had real trouble keeping up with the pace of the Eagles Offense today. We don’t mean because of its high tempo nature, in fact the team played slower more “normal” tempo football to lift off the gas pedal and prepare for a new challenge. But in terms of sheer speed. Don’t believe us? Watch our new favourite running back break some ankles here..
https://twitter.com/JoshPaunil/status/634036240803856384
Ryan Matthews thrust his way through the trenches numerous times for some big yards. The Running back core is looking stronger and stronger as days go by. DeMarco returned to practice and it looked as though he had never missed a day..very reminiscent of the kids at School who do nothing but drink and cause trouble but still fly through all of their exams..no need to worry about Murray. Sure he may have missed a few days but he’s still going to kill it this year if today was anything to go by.
Brace yourself for Bradford
Today was the first time we saw Bradford throw against a Defense that wasn’t Philly’s own..and he nailed it. Some lightning rods to Celek in the endzone emphaised his sheer accuracy and quick release. It’s pin point. There are the tiniest gaps in red zone situations but he sends bullets through time after time. His relationship with Jordan Matthews is getting stronger as time goes on, some more huge plays over the middle and made very few errors..unlike Tebow who somehow managed to find a way to throw a ball into the far bushes..somehow…but overall Tebow had a strong yet inconsistent day, throwing a touchdown to Trey Burton early on before breaking up a scrimmage amongst Ravens and Eagles third’s members. Barkley struggled hugely coming off of his impressive Colts performance and threw a pick six to top the day off. All eyes for now though are on Bradford as he continues to wow everybody with how powerful his throws are.
Saturday Scenario
The one thing that stood out today was actually on the Ravens side of things and more specifically how their linebackers simply could not contain the Eagles tight ends and backfield. The Tebow pass to Burton saw the right end completely disperse of Terrell Suggs whilst Dumervil found himself beaten on a few occasions. The running backs picked up major yards and whilst a few of the tight end plays required extensive athleticism to bring the ball down, the linebackers failed in closing the holes and could not apply pressure to Bradford. Expect the Offense to focus heavily on the running game this weekend with various different formations being used. Bradford will be looking over the middle to the likes of Celek and Burton for easy yards.
Planting the seed
Perhaps the worst pun ever for news on “Andrew Gardner” but once again it was Gardner who took the majority of reps at right guard. It’s looking increasingly certain that the battle for the position may be all but over after yet another good day.
A passing of the torch
It wasn’t so long ago that the Ravens had one of the most intimidating defenses in the league. With Ray Lewis at the helm, they would storm any offense that stood in their way. But as the players have aged and some retired whilst others moved their careers in different corrections, they appear to have lost that fire. Whereas the Eagles have done the opposite. Today, Flacco and the back up QB’s were picked off numerous times whilst Walter Thurmond had a tremendous outing. We have all heard about Eric Rowe’s big day and Jordan Hicks even broke a few passes up of his own. It was a changing of the times almost, a sign that the next generation are taking over..a very exciting time indeed..if you’re an Eagles fan.
