Eagles Evaluation: Cameron Johnston Shines in Loss to Bucs

By Paul Bowman, Eagledelphia Managing Editor

The offense was absent. The secondary was weak. The play calling was awful. There was no up-tempo offense, despite what Doug Pederson preached. The injuries piled up. Injuries were not why the Eagles lost, however. There is another reason the Eagles lost their matchup with the Buccaneers – they were awful. It was a loss reminiscent of the poor showing that the Eagles had against the Chiefs in week two of last season. The only positive to the game was that Cameron Johnston did an excellent job punting. The Eagles will get Carson Wentz back, but they must hope to get Alshon Jeffery to return soon – and that Wentz will throw the ball beyond the line of scrimmage.

Below are my drive by drive analyses:

• After a touchback, the Buccaneers lined up and brought the pressure. The Eagles allowed a 75-yard touchdown pass to former Eagles DeSean Jackson. Jalen Mills was beat in coverage and was juked out of the way for an easy touchdown run. Malcolm Jenkins also appeared to be intending to prevent the deep ball, but had allowed Jackson to run by him already. Two players blowing their coverage on the first play of the game is not a good sign.

One play. 75 yards. FitzMagic to DJax.#GoBucs | #PHIvsTB pic.twitter.com/cNLx0Xx0AH

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 16, 2018

• The drive did not star off well – Zach Ertz was wide open five yards down the field, but instead the pass went behind the line to Kamar Aiken for a small gain.
• Ajayi rushed, but Jason Peters and Brandon Brooks were both beaten badly. Ajayi slipped the tackle, but at that point the other five rushers were there as all five Eagles offensive lineman stood still watching Ajayi get blown up. It was a seven yard loss and Jason Peters limped off the field.
• A pass to Aiken went for nine yards and an offensive holding on Lane Johnson was declined to force a punt. Ajayi was helped off the field. Two injuries and a gain of five yards not including an offensive penalty that was declined is not how you want to respond to giving up a huge touchdown on the first play.

• After a 63-yard punt, the Eagles gave up a nine-yard run. Brandon Graham should have had him behind the line.
• A false start pushed the Bucs back, but Rodney McLeod allowed a catch and run for a first down that Mills cleaned up for him. Jim Schwartz has all the defensive back way off of every receiver.
• Fitzpatrick had forever to throw, but did not. Fletcher Cox was able to break free and force a throw away.
• Cox broke threw right away and earned a sack for a seven-yard loss.
• Cox brought the pressure again, but a lob over him connected for 13 yards. The runner outran McLeod, but luckily Jordan Hicks was there to stop him and force a punt.

• Corey Clement made a huge 43-yard return on the punt that could have changed the momentum of this game, but Josh Perkins made and illegal block to pin the Eagles at their own 13-yard line.
• Foles completed a 17-yard strike to Nelson Agholor who was wide open. The next play was a dump to Clement that gained another first down thanks to Kelce and Brooks being downfield for some blocks. Foles was hit on the blitz, but hung in to get the pass up to Clement.
• Clement rushed through a huge hole made by Peters and Wisnewski. He would have had a first down if Agholor had not committed a personal foul.
• The Eagles threw a pass to Mike Wallace that would have been his first catch as an Eagle, but that was negated by an illegal block committed by Peters and Wallace went down. He may not record a catch for the Eagles at all now.
• Foles threw an incompletion to Agholor that was nearly intercepted. There was no defender anywhere near Ertz a couple more yards up field, so I am not sure why he threw to Agholor, but it was a poor decision.
• He then hit Agholor for a 12-yard gain, but that was negated by a tripping penalty on Clement. Jason Peters exited again.
• On second and 40, just after losing a Hall of Fame left tackle, Pederson called a run and the play lost a yard.
• It’s not often you’ll see a third and 41 converted and it won’t be seen today. The dump to Clement had Aiken and Agholor with good blocks, but Shelton Gibson was unable to keep his man off Clement and the Eagles only got 15 yards.

• This time a 56-yard punt did well to keep the Bucs starting in a reasonable field position. Darby was able to make a tackle in the run game, but only after the Bucs had gained seven yards.
• Darby allowed a first down on the next play as the backs are still playing way off the receivers. The Bucs could throw for four to six yards on every play with the way the backs are playing off so far.
• The Eagles finally stopped a run, but that was moved back further by the Bucs center committing a personal foul for no reason at all after the play.
• Michael Bennett brought the pressure to force a throw away and that was followed by a short completion over the middle where Sidney Jones did a nice job of making sure that the runner did not pass him before help arrived.

• Wendell Smallwood ran right up the middle for four yards. He was criticized for reaching, but since the ground cannot force a fumble, there was nothing wrong and it was a heads up play to gain a bit more yardage.
• After a short run by Clement, Foles took a hit on a scramble that just netted the first down.
• With an extra blocker, Smallwood nearly got a first down but was stopped short. This likely would have been a touchdown run had Kelce been able to block his man, but with a pile of bodies in front of him, his only option was to dive and the Bucs defender avoided that and was able to bring Smallwood down.
• With an extra blocker, Smallwood nearly got a first down but was stopped a few yards short.
• The Bucs blitz was not picked up and Foles was hit nearly instantly. He fumbled the ball and it rolled directly to the Bucs. Foles tried to sell it as he was throwing, but it was a fumble.

Kwon with the sack and forced fumble to give us the ball back in Eagles territory!#GoBucs | #PHIvsTB pic.twitter.com/fsrmhWoGt5

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 16, 2018

• Derek Barnett blew up a run to force a loss of yardage on the first play.
• The Eagles defensive backs were playing way off and left OJ Howard wide open for a first down, but McLeod was able to close quickly and knocked the ball up. Ronald Darby got underneath of it and ran it back to nearly the same point that the Eagles lost the ball. That is a huge play by a secondary that has been struggling.

• Big V was beaten easily and Foles could not escape the pressure and was sacked for a four-yard loss.

• Foles gained that yardage and a bit more with a strike to Ertz, but a pass deep to a double covered Shelton Gibson fell incomplete to force a punt.
• The punt nearly stopped inside the one, but rolled just enough to stop on the line and force a touchback.

• After the Eagles linebackers stopped a run for minimal yardage, Mills allowed an easy first down pass and was unable to make the tackle. Luckily, Malcolm Jenkins was able to hold the runner long enough for Nigel Bradham to clean up.
• Michael Bennett brough pressure and Bradham did a nice job of stopping a dump pass for no gain.
• Mills was playing way off again, so an easy pass and run out of bounds to Jackson for a first down was completed.
• Darby was nowhere near Evans who just dropped the ball. Lucky break on that one. I think Kamu Grugier-Hill could have gotten there before the defensive backs with how far they were all playing off.
• Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham broke free to stop a run and Darby was actually near his receiver on the following play which created an incompletion to force a punt.

• Ertz ran the same route he had been open on multiple times today and Foles actually threw it to him. The result was an easy first down.
• A late blitz was not picked up and Foles hung in the pocket and got hit hard. The pass made it to Ertz but was not a completion. Pass interference moved the ball up again, however. Ertz is making plays.
• An eight yard pass to Perkins was followed by a false start on Wisniewski. That was followed by a hard hit on Foles as Kelce failed to block Beau Allen. The play was nearly a pick as Foles threw inside to two defensive backs rather than outside where Aiken was available.
• Coverage got tight, but the blitz was stopped long enough for Foles to float a pass to Agholor for a first down.
• Foles rolled out for a short pass to Ertz. He tried a pump fake, but the defender was not fooled and dropped coverage of Agholor to take Ertz down immediately.
• On a fake, Foles hit Ertz just short of the first down and Clement rushed right up the middle for the new set of downs.
• Perkins dropped an easy catch that would have gained at least six yard, but Smallwood gained that on a rush up the middle on the next play.
• Agholor caught a nice pass, but fell short of the first down marker after he tried to make something out of nothing by spinning rather than pushing forward.
• The Eagles ran a QB sneak on fourth down and the Eagles offensive line pushed forward for about two yards.
• Foles felt pressure and threw the ball away. Clement was open for a short pass similar to what the Eagles have been running all day, so I am not sure why he didn’t make that throw. There was also an easy pass to Ertz in the endzone available.
• Clement ran for a touchdown on the next play. That touchdown belongs to Big V who held off the first defender until Wisnewski got there and then immediately picked up the second defender to create a huge hole for Clement.

🎶 Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, Clement time. 🎶#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/6xe4w6vC7U

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 16, 2018

• So much for being back in this game. After the Eagles offense came up huge, the Eagles allowed a second 75-yard touchdown to OJ Howard. Jordan Hicks was beat in coverage and Darby stuck a limp noodle of an arm out as if he was pretending to attempt a tackle, but did nothing at all to stop Howard.

Fitz to O.J. Howard for 75-yards and the TD. Bucs up 13-7!#GoBucs | #PHIvsTB pic.twitter.com/tK6sZ1X93w

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 16, 2018

• Smallwood took an odd hop essentially stopping right in front of a defensive lineman and was tackled for no gain.
• Ertz was open slanting across the middle, but Foles rolled the other way to escape pressure. He hit a covered Aiken behind the line for a yard loss. I do not understand why Foles won’t throw that away. Hitting a covered receiver behind the line is not beneficial to anything but his own completion percentage.
• Smallwood found a hole between Brooks and Johnson to run for about six yards, but not nearly enough for a first down. A punt ensued.

• Malcolm Jenkins was not playing way off, but still allowed a near 30-yard completion.
• Mills, however, was off and allowed an 18-yard completion for another first down.
• Cox brought pressure, but Darby was still playing way off and allowed a completion. He then missed the tackle. Jordan Hicks got there to prevent the runner from getting a first down and Jenkins came in to clean up. Darby did nothing on the play and that was his guy.
• Another short pass was made for a first down. Darby was covering, but Hicks was actually closer to him.
• A rush went for seven yards where McLeod cleaned it up.
• Michael Bennett lined up offside, but it didn’t matter because no one covered Chris Godwin. Bucs are up 13.

That's FitzMagic's third TD this half on an 8-yard pass to Chris Godwin.

Bucs up 20-7!#GoBucs | #PHIvsTB pic.twitter.com/TrPRNC5smd

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 16, 2018

• Foles completed a pass for two yards to Agholor. He probably should have used that misplaced spin move from earlier on this play as there was no one behind him.
• A deep pass went to a wide-open Ertz for 34 yards to set up a field goal attempt at the least. Ertz needs more of those plays if the Eagles want to recover.
• Josh Perkins was open to the left half of the field, but the pass went to Clement five yards behind the line. It could have worked had the Bucs lineman been blocked, but Kelce was the only blocker and he was up the field, not behind the line.
• Ertz gained back the lost yardage and a bit more prior to running out of bounds, putting the Eagles back into field goal range for Jake Elliot.
• Clement caught a first down pass, but ran up the middle looking for a touchdown instead of running to the sideline. They had one attempt at the end zone, but there was no time for anything to develop. The Eagles had to attempt a field goal that ended up being no good as the ball bounced off the uprights.

• The Bucs kneeled to end the half.

• Ajayi re-entered the game and broke off a 20-yard run as the entire offensive line moved the Bucs defensive line to the left allowing a huge hole for Ajayi.
• Following a short Ajayi rush, Josh Perkins was not able to hold on to a pass.
• Ertz did a good job of turning around to avoid the defender, but he was still four yards from the sticks.
• On fourth down, Ertz only got about three and a half. Agholor was open on the other side of the field for an easy first down, but the end result was a turnover on downs. At midfield, you can’t be too angry with the call, especially since there was an easy first down available.

• After Jenkins and McLeod cleaned up an eight-yard run, Darby, who was finally close to a receiver, was unable to break up a first down pass.
• Barnett got around to the other side of the line to stop a run. He has been virtually non-existent in the pass rush, but has made plays in the run game.
• Sidney Jones and Ngata stopped another run after a short gain, but it went to waste as a Ronald Darby who was in tight coverage allowed a huge catch to set up the Bucs in the red zone.
• Barnett made yet another run stop, but that was followed by a touchdown pass that was easily our of reach of a diving Jalen Mills to put Tampa Bay up for 20.

TD 4 for #FitzMagic as he connects with WR Mike Evans to put the Bucs up 27-7!#GoBucs | #PHIvsTB pic.twitter.com/KY9aqvTrIl

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 16, 2018

• The Eagles brought Isaac Seumalo in as an extra blocker. It turned out to be a mistake as even though the Eagles had more lineman than rushers, Seumalo was beat badly and Foles was sacked for a loss of nine. Seumalo set up as a blocker off the side and did not block anyone allowing a defender to run through the hole next to him.
• A dump pass to Smallwood went nowhere. That was followed by a nine-yard pass to Aiken who nearly slipped the tackle. It might have been a first down type play if the previous play had not been yet another dump behind the line to a covered back. The Eagles chose to punt this time – a 65-yarder this time.

• Hicks stopped a rush up the middle and Darby allowed a catch (this time only a six-yarder). This set up a third and two that Tampa Bay rushed for easily as the defensive line was pushed aside and Bradham had to clean up.
• After Kamu Grugier-Hill stopped a run, pressure on Fitzpatrick forced a throwaway.
• Coverage by Darby lasted long enough to force a dump pass that McLeod was able to keep to a short gain to force a punt.

• With pressure, Foles dumped it off to Clement who was able to run for nearly 20 yards thanks to blocks from Brooks and Kelce down the field.
• Foles threw a pass to Agholor that was incomplete and should have been a pass interference as Agholor was tackled before the ball was thrown, but no call was made.
• Foles hit Agholor in stride with the next pass, so Agholor did not need to adjust to make the catch and he was able to speed up and around the defender to gain 50 yards before being forced out of bounds.
• Clement got some good blocking from Kelce and was able to push up the middle for seven yards behind him.
• Foles threw what should have been a touchdown strike to Ertz, but the pass was just too far in front of Ertz, who nearly grabbed it after it tipped off his fingers.
• Agholor took a direct snap, but timing was off somewhere as he had to slow down to get the snap and, since he was not running at full speed, was not able to beat the defenders around the corner for a first down.
• For the second time, the Eagles ran a QB sneak on fourth down and, once again, gained nearly two yards with a huge push by the offensive line.
• A pass to a covered Ertz gained a few yards, but should have gone to Clement, who was open up the middle and had the room to run in for a touchdown easily.
• Ajayi got the handoff and seemed to stop at the line before bursting into the endzone for a much needed touchdown.

• The drive started off with a nine-yard catch by the Bucs. That was against Darby who really could do nothing to stop the pass. The pass was way off from both he and receiver Mike Evans, but Evans is far taller and was able to lay out just enough to make the grab. Tip of the hat to Fitzpatrick.

• An intended rush turned into an easy tackle as Bennett was behind the line quickly and did not miss the runner to set up a third and four.
• An easy first down as Darby is once again five yards off the receiver.
• Bradham cleaned up a short run, but a dump pass went for a first down on the following play.
• A pass was completed despite Darby being there, but that turned out to be a good thing as the nearby Jenkins punched the ball out and Hicks, who seems to be around loose balls all the time, scooped it up to set the Eagles offense up well.

Malcolm rips it free.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/2QPxUSW8cZ

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 16, 2018

• Foles threw a pass to Ertz that was a bit too high, but Ertz still should have caught it cleanly. He made the catch, but his juggling of the ball cost any chance at yards after the catch.
• Foles completed a four-yard pass to Agholor, but the Bucs read it well and he was hit hard just after making the catch.
• A screen to Agholor nearly went for a first down, but Big V hit his defender just a bit too hard and he bounced free and was able to take down Agholor as he ran past.
• A jet sweep setup misdirected the Bucs as the handoff went to Smallwood who was able to run the opposite direction for a first down.
• After a Smallwood rush went nowhere, a screen was nearly intercepted. It is an awful play that the Eagles seem to run quite a bit where they fake a screen to opposite way before spinning and throwing the pass the other way without looking. Hopefully we don’t see that play again – or we see it with the quarterback actually looking to make sure he isn’t throwing into a mass of defenders. Honestly, if Foles had thrown the fake to Clement, the Eagles could have picked up a few yards.
• Foles “couldn’t find anyone” on the next play (Aiken was open across the middle for an easy five yard gain and run while a decent pass to Gibson, who was running back toward Foles, could also have been an easy first down) and threw up a ball to try and throw it away. It was not thrown far enough and Gibson was able to get a hand on it, but ultimately it was too high for him. He was able to knock it down so a defender didn’t intercept it, however.
• With their chances waning, the Eagles went for it on fourth down again. Foles stood around forever and nearly took a sack. He heaved a pass that was too far to Clement. Clement dove for it and got hammered trying to make a catch. If Foles had thrown that sooner or a bit more accurately, that would have been a first down. Instead it is a turnover on downs.

• Fitzpatrick tried a scramble, but Bradham hit him behind the line and made sure nothing would come of that.
• Mills gave up a five-yard pass in tight coverage and Darby made an immediate tackle on a short pass to force a punt.

• Agholor was hit as he made the catch on the punt. There was no way he gave Agholor two yards to make the catch which should result in a penalty, but no such penalty was called.
• A pass to Ertz drew another pass interference as he was tackled before the ball got to him.
• Kamar Aiken made a huge grab in tight coverage for around 20 yards. The up-tempo Doug preached this week seems to be working even thought this is the first time it’s been used all game.
• Foles pump faked and rolled out to hit Perkins spot on for a 30-yard pass into the red zone.
• A dump to Ajayi gained four yards and a seven-yarder to Perkins earned another first down.
• Ajayi rushed up the middle for five yards and then rushed up to the one-yard line on the next play.
• The Eagles are not stopping the clock and wasting time by running it. They decide another run is good and it goes nowhere, but uses up nearly 30 seconds. No hustle at this point at all for some reason even though they are down two scores with less than three minutes remaining.
• Foles threw an absolute dime to Agholor in the corner to put this game within one touchdown. If he had made a few of these throws earlier, this game would be in the Eagles favor right now.

Whoa, Nelly.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/eI1J0Cx0E3

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 16, 2018

• The Eagles really needed a three and out to get the ball back with time, and it seemed like it might happen as Cox hammered the running back for a loss of three and the Eagles used their first timeout with 2:25 remaining, but on the following play, Mills was beat inside to allow a first down.
• The clock stopped as Jackson is afraid to ever get hit and ran out of bounds, and Bradham cleaned up another run before the Eagles used their second timeout.
• Brandon Graham committed a costly and obvious neutral zone infraction to make it second and three.
• The Eagles stopped a run for no gain and used their final timeout, but Mills allowed a first down catch and committed a penalty. The penalty stopped the clock and a rush stopped at the line took the game to the two-minute warning.
• The Eagles stopped two more runs and punted which left the Eagles with 19 seconds to go 90 yards. This is where you really needed Sproles to make a magical return, but Clement slipped and fell over at the 10-yard line.

• An absolutely baffling play, Foles threw a completion for just 10 yards into the center of the field to a triple covered Aiken. The Eagles took their time getting to the line to spike it. Only three seconds remained. Just an awful play overall. It wasted 16 seconds and got you only 10 yards closer and nowhere near range where you could even get a heave to the end zone.
• The final play was just as baffling. The pass went to Ertz for 10 yards and instead of running forward as there was no one around, he immediately lateraled it back to Agholor – and then did not block the single defensive back for Agholor. Instead he crossed the field, seemingly to block for Smallwood. It was almost as if they were told who to lateral it to and so they forced it to Smallwood even though the duo of Ertz and Agholor likely had the best shot at scoring on the play. The ball ended up fumbled behind the line of scrimmage.