Preseason Game Two Film Breakdown: Eagles vs. Bills

By: Tyler Morales, Sports Talk Philly Staff

Just like most preseason games, this one was extremely sloppy on the offensive end. Both teams struggled to really get anything going on both the ground and through the air. The Eagles' first team offense stalled multiple times this game leaving us to get a long look at the first team defense. Let's take a closer look at what we can take away from this game. 

Ronald Darby

Wow, what a debut for Mr. Darby. Immediately you can see how Darby impacts this defense not only for the cornerbacks but for the safeties as well. Bringing in a true cover cornerback allows the Eagles to play a lot more single high safety which gives more freedom to both Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney Mcleod. 

On this play below, Mcleod blitzes hard from the safety spot and perfectly times the snap to make the play on the Taylor throw that forces the interception. With Darby, the Eagles can now trust their cornerbacks man-to-man on the outside which will allow more blitzes from multiple spots on the field. Granted, Mills is not the best of man-to-man corners but he is a lot better as a CB2 than CB1 and Darby gives Mills better weekly match ups. 

Here, Malcolm Jenkins enters the box as an extra backer and leaves Darby and Mills on an island outside. Mcleod and Jenkins are both very good in the box so we should see a lot more of them closer to the line of scrimmage to make plays. One game in and we already saw both safeties make huge plays all thanks to the addition of Darby. 

Eagles align in cover one on this play which is man-to-man, single high safety and the rest of the defense rushes the quarterback. The defensive line is a good as any unit on this team so having a good cover corner is a must for this to be successful. Taylor gets rushed out the pocket and throws it up to Anquan Boldin but Ronald Darby is able to bait the throw and use his speed to recover to make the play. A cornerback like this has not been on the team since Asante Samuel and with the addition of Darby this defense can finally flourish into one of the best units in the league.

Derek Barnett/Justin Hamilton

I mentioned last week as Hamilton who could be a guy that makes this team and this week is no different. Hamilton came in around the middle of the first quarter and played some with the starters. Adding another huge run stopper behind Jernigan could make this defense lethal. Right now it looks like Hamilton will make this team as a potential game day scratch or rotational piece. 

Hamilton is lining up as a 2i-tech (inside shoulder of the left guard). He has shown on various instances that he is a stout run stopper. On this play, Hamilton reads the run and immediately pushes the left guard out of the way so he can make the play. During the broadcast, Mike Mayock said Hamilton has "opened eyes in camp" and the way he is being rotated into the game it looks like he has a spot on this team as a backup to Timmy Jernigan.  

Derek Barnett is really good. Vinny Curry will not be the starter much longer because Barnett is playing like a man possessed right now. Barnett has a nonstop motor that shows on nearly every snap. 

A question coming out of Tennessee was can Derek Barnett win inside and he has shown the past two games that he can do it very effectively. Barnett worked this poor left tackle all game and on this play he attacks the tackle's outside shoulder which gives him the lane he needs to the quarterback. Peterman was able to get the ball off, but this play still shows how effective Barnett can be rushing the passer.   

On the very next play, Barnett works outside, dips his shoulder to get past the left tackle and makes the sack. This play was textbook defensive end work and Eagles fans should be excited in Barnett. I would be stunned if he is not starting over Vinny Curry by week one because he has flat out played better and looks much more effective than Vinny Curry. 

Running Backs

The running game has not looked good at all and that is cause of multiple reasons. LeGarrette Blount has not looked good at all, he looks slow and has not been able to make the impact like some thought. Blount was never brought in to be the bell cow but with Smallwood hurt someone has to get the carries. 

Doug Pederson seems committed on running Blount outside of the tackles rather than inside which was effective for him in New England but so far has not worked well here. The Eagles idea is to get Blount one-on-one on the outside with a cornerback because one defensive back will not be able to take down Blount. The issue is Blount looks incredibly slow and the offensive line has been a mess. You can see Lane Johnson just get destroyed on this play and Blount has no where to go. 

Eagles run a sweep to Blount on this play and he actually has a lane for a few seconds but he is much better when he has a full head of steam than accelerating right from the snap. Zach Ertz also did not hold his block long enough on this play for someone with Blount's speed. A runner like Smallwood or Sproles would likely turn this into a touchdown. 

It is going to be interesting what Doug Pederson decides to do come week one of the regular season. Right now, Smallwood is hurt, Pumphrey has shown nothing and Clement is just very average. Blount may have to take the majority of the carries alongside Sproles. 

The Eagles play the Miami Dolphins next week in the dress rehearsal to the regular season. Expect to see the starters out for the entire first half and to give us a better look at what we should expect come week one of the regular season.