Eagles Postgame Report: Birds Fall To Indianapolis Colts In Preseason Finale Against Colts

The Eagles probably should have gotten blown out in this one. The Colts played their starters for half a game against third and fourth-string players on the Eagles and that only bought Indianapolis a four-point advantage.

One would think with the Anthony Richardson talk the announcers had going on, he would be lighting up backups. Instead, the Eagles backup secondary was simply outplayed by great receiver play and tough running. That and Joseph Ngata ruining the offense’s momentum and their best opportunity to take the lead before the half.

The Colts eventually brought in the far more effective Minshew to open up a two-score lead, but the Eagles deep depth players held up reasonably well against the ones and twos for Indianapolis.

Offensive MVP: Deon Cain

With six catches for 62 yards, Cain was once again the most trustworthy receiver on the field. He’s played himself into the same catagory as Greg Ward for someone that could potentially be the team’s fifth receiver (not including returns) and will absolutely be a practice squad candidate as long as another team doesn’t take him first.

Defensive MVP: Kelee Ringo

The Colts had top receivers in but for much of the game, you might not have even notice Ringo was there since passes rarely went his way. It’s in stark contrast to the two previous preseason games where he’d get sudden highlights for blown coverage. That’s good news, particularly given the quality of receivers he was up against this week.

Game Notes

• What a way for Devon Allen, who missed a ton of time in camp with injury and has been a ghost in the preseason games to throw his hat in the ring. His 73-yard return to start he game was a statement to be made for a return spot. Although there wasn’t a ton of fanfare, his other returns appeared to go well.
• After so much hype, K’Von Wallace looked bad. This was the Wallace we watched for the past two seasons. Penalties, inability to cover and missed tackles aplenty. If that is supposed to be from a starter or a top-three guy, there’s a problem.
• Dennis Kelly does not look like he’d be in line for a spot. Recently re-signed Fred Johnson played better in this game and Kelly was beaten rather regularly. Jack Driscoll hasn’t played and seems assured a spot, which might leave Kelly without a place on the roster after that showing.
• The OL was not good so that would be a part of Trey Sermon’s performance. Having said that, it wasn’t the game Sermon was looking for. It seemed like he was the odd man out of the room and he didn’t show anything that’d seem to change that with 16 carries for 30 yards – with a long of six.
• Ben VanSumeren has looked good in the preseason. He had a few tough breaks in this one where he was right where he needed to be to break up or even intercept passes, but the throw from Richardson was off soo much that he had no play. Both also wound up being incredible plays by the receiver (one with the receiver falling out of bounds and one with the receiver making a catch off his cleats. Honestly, his positioning on those plays should push him up the depth chart. He had 17 tackles (11 solo) – 10 tackles was the most for any other player that saw the field for either team (and three of those tackles were in the last two minutes).
• For the third game in a row it seemed Joseph Ngata was being force fed targets now and again. This time, he ended the most exciting drive by fumbling after the catch. It was also the third game in a row I found myself wishing the Eagles quarterback would throw to anyone else who could actually make a catch rather than only once for every two drops. In reality, there’s no reason he should be with the team besides the guaranteed money they gave him. If you assume the top five receivers (including Covey as a return man) have spots on the roster already, Ward and Cain are easily more valuable and there’s been several other receivers (like Haselwood) that have outperformed him in the games and just simply aren’t playing close to every single snap like Ngata has.
• Tyreek Maddox-Williams made a splashy interception in that fourth quarter. He was just signed five days ago, so it’s difficult to see him having any path to a roster spot, but he will almost certainly get looks for someone’s practice squad after that.

Injury Notes

• Eli Ricks went down at the end of the first quarter and walked off the field. He did return to the game.

Indianapolis Colts @ Philadelphia Eagles – August 24, 2023