By Tucker Bagley, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
Once again, the Eagles defense put together an impressive performance, but the offense continues to lag behind their counterparts. With Jim Schwartz at the helm, the Eagles may finally have the proficient defense they have been searching for since the death of Jim Johnson.
Going Deep
They may have been clad in Black and Yellow, but these weren't the Pittsburgh Steelers the Eagles will meet again in Week 3 of the regular season. Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown spent the game on sideline. Ditto for Le'Veon Bell. But that didn't matter to Fletcher Cox and company, who showed up to Heinz Field last night prepared for a fight, and walked out with a whole lot of confidence and swagger.
But it wasn't just the gaudy numbers Jim Schwartz's unit put up that were impressive, it was how the worked together as a unit and played an aggressive style of football.
"We have a lot of players who are hungry to get out there and play hard and get to the football," Nolan Carroll said. "It’s been fun. We have a lot of camaraderie and we’re taking the football away a lot these first two preseason games. We’ve got to keep getting after it."
The Eagles made life pretty difficult for Landry Jones, forcing him into four interceptions and sacking backup Dustin Vaughan four times. All of which goes back to Schwartz preaching a simple, aggressive scheme.
"We’re attacking, that’s what we’re doing," Brandon Graham said. "It’s a big difference from last year. We weren’t attacking last season. That’s what we’re all about now."
What will be interesting going forward is whether this type of momentum can be sustained. There have been several reports claiming that turnovers are simply random and very rarely correlate to the skill level of a defense. But the QB pressures, tackles for loss and increasing cohesiveness are something that the team can control.
And even more important will be the team's Week 3 matchup against this very same team. With the Steelers intentionally holding out their star offensive players, it will be interesting to see how the Eagles defense performs against a team that has film on them and can learn from their past mistakes.
For now, it looks like at least one side of the Eagles team is prepared for the regular season and will be ready to compete against some of the premier offensive units in the league. But, then again, we thought the same thing about Chip Kelly's offense last year, didn't we?
Medical Report
Did Not Play: RB Wendell Smallwood (quad); QB Carson Wentz (ribs); WR Hunter Sharp (hamstring); CB JaCorey Shepherd (knee); CB Jalen Mills (hamstring); WR Jordan Matthews (knee); DT Mike Martin (knee); LB Mychal Kendricks (hamstring)
Caleb Sturgis: In an incident that can only be described as bizarre, Sturgis was hit by a stray punt during warmups last night and missed the entire game with a concussion. Through training camp and last week's game, Sturgis looked far superior to Cody Parkey and was the favorite to land the kicking job. It remains to be seen how long this will affect Sturgis and if it will have any long-lasting effect on the kicking battle.
Aaron Grymes: Grymes has been really impressive the past few weeks and looked to muscling his way into a roster spot, but a shoulder injury last night forced him to watch the second half of the game from the sideline. The former CFL star had a great end zone interception and was also credited with a tackle for loss. With all of the names in the Eagles defensive backfield, Grymes was lost in the shuffle for a bit, but last night was a breakout performance. Hopefully this injury doesn't rob him of a chance to play this year.
Joe Walker: Walker left Thursday's game with a knee injury, but a source told Geoff Mosher that the team fears it could be an ACL injury and Walker's season could be done. If so, that would be a huge blow to the Eagles already-thin linebacking corps, leaving them with no true middle linebacker to back up Jordan Hicks.
Numbers Game
9 – The Eagles have now forced nine turnovers in their first two preseason games. Despite playing against a clearly over-matched Steelers offense, the Eagles turnovers have been forced, not given. Quarterback hits altering throws that result in interceptions are plays that will give a defense confidence and make the rest of the unit hungry to make plays.
1 – One week after struggling to keep their quarterbacks upright, the Eagles allowed just one sack last night. Even that one mishap was more of a result of a good defensive play by Arthur Moats and not a mistake by the offensive line. With a lot of worries surrounding this group since Lane Johnson's failed PED test, it was good to see them play as one, cohesive unit for the majority of the game.
3.4 – However, the offensive line struggled a bit in the running game. With the exception of Kenjon Barner, the Eagles were unable to get anything going on the ground, picking up just 3.4 yards per carry. For an offense with limited playmakers and few options outside the numbers for big plays, running the ball effectively is a must if they want to win games.
Quotables
"I thought they played well tonight."
-Sam Bradford on his wide receivers' performance
Not many people would agree with the quarterback, but a week after they looked absolutely dreadful, mildly incompetent was certainly a step in the right direction.
"I don't think it does anybody any good to advertise some things maybe other teams aren't aware of [or] some new trends and things like that. I hate to be boring, but I think I'll just take that approach."
-Jim Schwartz on his tight-lippedness during press conferences
He may not be Bill Belichick bad, but man, trying to get an answer out of Schwartz is like pulling teeth.
"I feel like, in this offense, I can catch a lot of balls [and] score a lot of touchdowns."
-Dorial Green-Beckham to Reuben Frank on how he fits into the Eagles offensive scheme
Two targets, one drop and no catches from the Eagles newest wideout last night certainly didn't instill any confidence in the fan base that he's the receiving corps' savior. However, he was put in a tough situation, being asked to play with a team he joined two days ago and never practiced with. Hopefully after getting acclimated to things he can get to catching balls and scoring touchdowns.
Bullish
Nolan Carroll: A lot of teams were worried about Carroll's health heading into this year, which is how he ended up back with the Eagles on a one-year deal. Last night, the corner was placed back in the starting lineup, recorded a pass breakup on the first drive and finished off the next drive with a pick six. Carroll was a consistent performer last year before getting hurt and proved that he can still play and is back healthy again. Expect him to be a starter going forward.
Marcus Smith: A week after Steven Means seemingly put the final nail in Smith's coffin, the 2014 first-round pick returned from injury and posted two tackles for loss and a sack. Granted, one solid performance doesn't magically give Smith a roster spot, and Means had a QB hit that led to an interception, but it is good to see Smith look like a competent football player in Schwartz's system.
Paul Turner: In two weeks, Turner has gone from virtual unknown to Eagles personnel favorite to practice squad candidate to 53-man roster darkhorse. After leading the Eagles in receiving a week ago, Turner accomplished the feat again, posting 44 yards on three catches, including a spectacular one-handed grab. With uninspiring performances by a number of receivers ahead of him on the depth chart, Doug Pederson could shake things up a bit and start giving the kid a shot with the first team.
Bearish
Blake Countess: If Countess is going to make the Eagles roster out of camp, it will have to be based on his versatility and his special teams play. But last night he struggled to stand out, at least for the right reasons. Countess was pointed out a few times by Mike Mayock on the telecast for struggling to contain gunners on the punt return team. He needs to clean that up immediately or he'll be without a team once the regular season starts.
Josh Huff: As we enter the former Duck's third NFL season, I feel like I can no longer defend Huff being on this roster based on his immense potential. The receiver is electric once the ball is in his hands and is a solid kick returner, but his inability to catch or run consistent routes makes it hard to defend him being on the team over other players who are actually effective receivers. Another big drop last night was another reminder of how frustrating Huff can be.
Three-Step Drop
1. One thing that stood out about the defense — besides all the interceptions — was the excitement the players had after each successive turnover. Heck, after the last one, the bench got so excited, that it was penalized for coming on to the field too early. Granted, 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalties shouldn't be praised, but this sort of cohesiveness and camaraderie was missing during the past few years. It's a good thing to finally have back.
2. The news regarding Walker's injury could be devastating and the Eagles may need to call in for backup if he's going to miss all of 2016. Stephen Tulloch is still on the streets and the Eagles remain to be the only team to inquire about his services. His experience under Schwartz makes him an ideal fit for a team with a young linebacking corps. I assume Tulloch is still waiting for an opportunity to start somewhere, but if that call never comes, he could be suiting up in Midnight Green before the end of the preseason.
3. Nelson Agholor had just two catches for 30 yards and also added another drop to his collection, but his tremendous leaping grab in the second quarter looked a lot like the guy scouts and analysts fell in love with at USC. Agholor possesses the talent to truly be a special player in the NFL and it really seems like his shortcomings are due to a total lacking of confidence. Hopefully last night's performance was a step towards getting back on track and he can be the playmaker this offense sorely lacks.
Who's Next
The Eagles will travel to Indianapolis to take on Andrew Luck and the Colts next Saturday night. The ability to face a quarterback of Luck's caliber for an extended period of time will be a good gauge for Schwartz's crew. Offensively, the play of Green-Beckham should be monitored as he will have eight days to become acclimated with the Eagles and Pederson's offensive scheme.
