From the Desk of Eagles Outsider Barry Bowe
Six QBs
Six quarterbacks will draw the attention of a great deal of Eagles fans as the 2015 NFL season unfolds, so I’m going to keep my eyes on them and keep you posted as the season progresses.
- Sam Bradford
- Nick Foles
- Marcus Mariota
- Mark Sanchez
- Tim Tebow
- Matt Barkley
All six played this week.
There was the much-awaited debut of Sam Bradford versus the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night – a game in which all four Eagles QBs saw action – and there was a head-to-head matchup between Nick Foles and Marcus Mariota as the St. Louis Rams met the Tennessee Titans on Sunday night.
Sam Bradford
Terrell Suggs’ cheap hit on Sam Bradford gets top-billing.
It was just a run-of-the-mill running play in the first quarter – a read-option play that Chip Kelly stubbornly calls despite having a $13-million franchise quarterback with a fragile knee – and well-known cheap-shot artist Terrell Suggs took a cheap shot at Sam Bradford’s knees. See Video below.
As you can see, a flag was thrown, Suggs was penalized, and he’ll probably be fined by the NFL.
Eagles tackle Jason Peters believes the cheap-shot was premediated:
“I’m pretty sure he planned it. We practiced against them all week, and I’m pretty sure he was thinking about it. I really don’t know him personally. He talks a lot. I think he is that kind of player—dirty, and takes shots at quarterbacks.” – Jason Peters
And Terrell Suggs offered the following alibi:
“When you run the read option, you have to know the rules. If you want to run the read option with your starting quarterback that’s had two knee surgeries, that’s on you. That’s not my responsibility to update you on the rule.” – Terrell Suggs
The good news is that Bradford survived the cheap shot unscathed.
Starting with an overthrow of a wide open Riley Cooper that would’ve netted six points, Sam Bradford eventually settled into a 12-play drive that covered 84 yards in 3:55 and ended with Ryan Matthews scampering untouched for 14 yards and a touchdown.
Bradford went 3-for-7 on the drive – hitting:
- Darren Sproles for 8 yards.
- Josh Huff for 12 yards.
- Jordan Matthews for 14 yards.
Bradford then retired from the balance of the game leading 7-0.
Nick Foles vs Marcus Mariota
The rookie whom most Eagles fans believe Chip Kelly coveted like the Devil outplayed the veteran quarterback Chip Kelly despised despite going 14-4 as a starter in his two years under the Chipster.
Marcus Mariota led two drives and looked sharp as he went 5-for-8 for 59 yards. His longest completion was a 35-yarder to tight end Craig Stevens. He threw neither a TD nor an interception and avoided getting sacked. He scrambled once for one yard – but did not run at all by design.
The lone negative on his performance was that he failed to lead the Titans into the end zone. His first drive went for 44 yards on six plays – but ended in a punt. His second drive went 71 yards in eight plays and ended with a Ryan Succop 27-yard FG.
His final numbers were 5-for-8 for 59 yards.
Nick Foles, on the other hand, played poorly.
After going 1-for-1 for eight yards on his first drive, Foles threw a ball that was picked off by Perrish Cox and returned 24 yards for a touchdown.
Foles moved the Rams just 14 yards on his second drive, going 1-for-3 for just seven yards before the drive ended with a punt.
And his final two drives were three-and-outs.
His final numbers were 3-for-7 for just 18 yards – no TDs and that dreaded pick-six.
“Tonight, we needed to get the ball in the endzone. We didn’t do our job. We need to get some points on the board, but it’s one of those things where there’s a lot we can learn from. Everything out here is fixable and we can fix it. We’ll get back to work. The second group right now is moving the ball really nicely. There are a lot of good things and we’re just going to improve on the things we didn’t do well.” – Nick Foles
Mark Sanchez
Mark Sanchez improved his performance dramatically from the prior week.
He played for three drives.
Thanks to Byron Maxwell’s interception and return, Sanchez only had to move 28 yards to pay dirt on his first drive. The drive took just five plays and culminated with DeMarco Murray bursting up the middle for the final two yards. Sanchez was 2-for-2 on the drive for 21 yards.
His second drive lasted for 13 plays, covered 77 yards, and ended with a Cody Parkey field goal from 21 yards out. Sanchez went 6-for-7 on the drive for 53 yards. He did connect for a 5-yard TD pass to Jordan Matthews – but the play was nullified by a holding penalty on Julian Vandervelde.
His third drive – six plays for 20 yards – ended with a punt.
Overall, Mark Sanchez went 14-for-20 for 118 yards – no TDs or INTs. He was sacked once for minus-two yards.
Matt Barkley
Matt Barkley’s numbers look all right – 6-for-14 on two drives for 86 yards – but both drives ended with field goals instead of touchdowns.
He was the fourth-best Eagles quarterback of the night and there’s a groundswell hoping the Eagles can work a deal for Barkley that would bring a fourth- or fifth-rounder in return. With a prevailing scarcity of decent backup quarterbacks throughout the NFL, that is a possibility.
Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow logged the Eagles’ longest run of the night when he burst up the middle for 26 yards on the first play of his second drive. His first drive was cut short when Kevin Monangai’s fumble was recovered by the Ravens. Tebow moved the Eagles 64 yards on seven plays on that second drive – which ended in a 34-yard field goal by backup kicker Kip Smith.
On his third drive, Tebow moved the Eagles 41 yards on five plays – which ended on a one-yard dive by Kevin Monangai. But one play earlier, Tebow blew an excellent opportunity to put a touchdown on the board.
Tebow – who displayed a tendency to hold the ball too long on several occasions – was holding the ball too long when Michael Johnson ran wide open in the back of the end zone. An easy lob would’ve put six points on the board. But Tebow either didn’t see Johnson or didn’t have confidence in his ability to loft the ball into Johnson’s hands, because he tucked the ball and tried to run it into the end zone.
The play ended with Tebow launching his body toward the goal-line marker and a touchdown was signaled. But the touchdown was reversed upon review.
Tebow finished the night 2-for-5 for just 13 yards.
The same groundswell that’s hoping the Eagles will trade Barkley is hoping that Chip Kelly will keep Tebow as his third-string quarterback.
The Barkley-Tebow dilemma probably won’t be decided until after the final preseason game.
In addition to being an official Eagles Outsider, Barry Bowe is also the author of:
- Born to Be Wild
- 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant
- 12 Best Eagles QBs
- Soon-to-be-published sexy, police procedural Caribbean Queen
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