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Week 14: Mediocre Effort By Mediocre Team
Team lacked consistently to control game in Philly.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:
Tyrod Taylor played well in spurts but struggled in the final quarter with his accuracy. He was under pressure a lot and did make things happen with his legs. He completed a couple of deep balls including the 47 yard score to Sammy but he went deep to often when a shorter pass over the middle would have kept the chains moving.
Grade C: Needed to take the team on his back and win the game. That's what a budding franchise QB does, he didn't.
Running Backs:
LeSean McCoy struggled at times with his emotions and made the game about him. He was decent but didn't do anything to make the difference in the game. Averaged just 3.7 yards on 20 carries for 74 yards. Did too much dancing that put his OL in a tough spot. Added four catches for 35 yards.
Mike Gillislee had the big play on the ground running 19 yards up the middle faking Kiko Alonso out on his way to his first career touchdown. He had two other carries for five yards.
Jerome Felton had two false start penalties but had a big block on Gillislee's touchdown.
Grade B: Did some things but needed to do more.
Receivers:
Sammy Watkins caught a 47 yard touchdown bomb. Couldn't come down with a high pass downfield on third down. Dropped a pass on their final drive of the first half short circuiting a promising drive. Finished with five catches on a whopping 12 targets for 81 yards.
Robert Woods had a season high 106 yards on five catches.
Chris Hogan couldn't get his feet in bounds on a catch in the end zone. Finished the game with just two catches for 20 yards.
Charles Clay left the game in the first half with a back injury and had one catch for a first down.
Chris Gragg had an 11 yard grab.
Grade C: Average day.
Offensive Line:
Eric Wood was called for a holding penalty negating a 20 yard run by McCoy.
Richie Incognito was beaten for a sack on the Bills opening possession forcing a punt. He was called for a face mask penalty on the fourth quarter that negated a 1st down completion to Felton. Two plays later he was beaten badly and McCoy lost 10 yards on the run. He was then called for a holding penalty as the Bills were trying to comeback in the final minutes.
Jordan Mills was called for a false start in the red zone to help keep them out of the end zone on a 2nd quarter FG drive and a holding penalty late in the game.
Cordy Glenn played on the right side in a power formation a few times for the second straight week.
John Miller was called for holding on a play that McCoy was dancing along the line of scrimmage for too long.
Grade D: Too many penalties, not enough protection.
Defensive Line:
Mario Williams was called for a neutral zone infraction on the Eagles first drive turning a third and long into a third and short. Got good pressure to force a third down incompletion on the 2nd drive. Had a sack for a 15 yard loss late in the game to get the ball back for the offense in the final minutes.
Jerry Hughes was called for a neutral zone infraction on the Eagles 2nd series but the Bills forced a punt on the next play so it didn't hurt them. Had great pressure in the end zone forcing a screen pass completion for a one yard loss. Darted in the backfield to tackle DeMarco Murray for no gain.
Marcell Dareus was also called for a neutral zone infraction.
Corbin Bryant got great pressure forcing an incompletion early in the third quarter and another pressure in the fourth quarter where he hit Bradford hard forcing the incompletion.
Grade C: Got some pressure and clog up the run fairly well.
Linebackers:
Manny Lawson played inside a lot with Bradham and Steward out. He made a big tackle on a 3rd and 1 play to stop Matthews short of the first down. He had a nice tackle for loss on a screen pass.
Preston Brown was very quiet with five tackles.
Grade C: Not much action for this unit.
Secondary:
Ronald Darby did a solid job in pass coverage and had two more passes defensed to get to 21 on the year.
Leodis McKelvin started in place of Gilmore and was beaten by a bomb on the first play but the Bills won the challenge and it was an incomplete pass. His day didn't get any better as he was constantly beaten in coverage. He gave up a sideline pass just before halftime to give the Eagles a field goal before the half ran out. He had a great pass breakup on a third down pass late in the third quarter to force a punt. He then took the ball away from the receiver for an interception near the goal line.
Nickell Robey had solid coverage on a third down incompletion.
Corey Graham made a nice open field tackle on a WR screen. He was beaten for a 53 yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor in the 2nd quarter.
Bacarri Rambo knocked away a third down pass forcing a punt.
Grade C: This unit missed Gilmore.
Special Teams:
Colton Schmidt was busy with 7 punts, including a touchback and two downed inside the 20. He did allowed a couple of return possibilities for Sproles which brought his net down 10 yards a punt.
Dan Carpenter hit field goals from 38 and 40 yards out and both extra points.
Marcus Thigpen muffed a punt in the second quarter it was an absolute killer. He should have fair caught the ball. Had five punt returns for a 10 yard average.
Coverage Units They let Sproles average 118 yards on four punt returns for 47 yards including a 28 yarder that flipped the field in the fourth quarter. Boobie Dixon was called for a taunting penalty on a return.
Grade D: The Eagles are clearly have the better special teams.
Coaching:
Rex Ryan made a questionable decision punting from the Eagles 36 on 4th and 5 in the 2nd quarter. He could have tried a 54 yard FG or went for it. The punt was downed inside the 4 making the decision look better. They wade too many mental mistakes with 15 penalties.
Greg Roman got way too cute with the trick plays again. They aren't working. Went deep way too many times on third down instead of moving the chains with shorter pass plays.
Dennis Thurman didn't have his team fired up but they covered for injuries pretty well holding the Eagles to just 23 points.
Grade D: The team is just too damn undisciplined.
 Bills Blitz
NFL.com Gamebook
Eagles Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
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