Eagles vs. Colts analysis: Birds finish with a winless preseason, but see some roster bubble standouts emerge
Marcus Mariota started the preseason game and was in for an Eagles touchdown drive on a short field in their 27-13 loss to the Colts.
The Eagles wanted Marcus Mariota to end August on a high note.
In the team’s 27-13 loss in the preseason finale to the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night, Mariota went 1-for-2 for 21 yards on a scoring drive mostly set up by an impressive kick return from Devon Allen.
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Allen’s 73-yard return started with him muffing the kickoff, getting about 20 yards downfield before reversing course, and then beating the collective Colts special teams unit around the edge down to the Indianapolis 27-yard line.
Aside from the initial mishandling, Allen’s return is an encouraging development for the world-class hurdler trying to make the roster.
“Devon’s tough,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said after the game. “He shows his speed a lot, and when you’re as good at track and field as he is, everyone thinks about the speed, but he has toughness, too. That’s why he’s able to make those plays on special teams ... The speed is real, and the toughness is real.”
Here’s how Allen and the rest of the Eagles’ roster-bubble players fared:
Mariota and McKee
Mariota took advantage of the short field Allen provided, completing a 21-yard pass to wide receiver Deon Cain and setting up a Trey Sermon touchdown run three plays later.
Mariota’s only other pass, intended for Dan Arnold, fell incomplete after the tight end’s feet got tied up with a Colts defensive back.
The lone series closed out a turbulent preseason for the 29-year-old backup quarterback.
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Mariota, who signed a one-year deal worth up to $8 million in the offseason, completed 59% of his passes without any touchdowns and one interception in his three exhibition appearances. The former Oregon standout started all three games and attempted 29 passes over that time.
Mariota’s preseason performances have been representative of his play during training camp practices, with too many errant throws sprinkled in with some productive runs and positive plays. Mariota had just one rushing attempt this preseason, a 34-yard scamper against the Baltimore Ravens.
The veteran’s struggles stand in stark contrast to rookie Tanner McKee, who has been impressively sharp in his first NFL action. Albeit against opposing teams’ third-string defenses, McKee went into the preseason finale completing just 53% of his passes but averaging 7.8 yards per attempt to Mariota’s 5.1. McKee has also made several nice throws dropped by Eagles receivers. According to Pro Football Focus, McKee’s receivers dropped five of his passes in the first two games.
On Thursday, the missed opportunities continued when running back Kennedy Brooks dropped a possible touchdown pass from McKee on a wheel route.
Last week, Sirianni said that as encouraging as McKee’s play has been, the team would stick with Mariota as the second quarterback going into the regular season.
McKee finished the night 19-for-34 with 158 passing yards.
“He put three good games together,” Sirianni said. “So we’re excited to work with him and I’m really pleased with how he looked.”
» READ MORE: Do the Eagles have a No. 2 quarterback problem with Marcus Mariota or is the answer Tanner McKee?
Bubble busters
Several Eagles players on the roster bubble got their final chance to improve their standing going into Tuesday’s cut-down day.
A few players with solid showings: Eli Ricks, Trey Sermon, Tyreek Maddox-Williams, and Ben VanSumeren.
Maddox-Williams, a Philadelphia native who played high school ball at Timber Creek, was the biggest surprise of the night. The 25-year-old picked off Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger in the fourth quarter, capping off an already-impressive showing for the linebacker signed on Saturday. Maddox-Williams finished with seven tackles, a pass breakup, a tackle for loss and the interception, which should go a long way toward helping him make either an initial roster or a practice squad with the Eagles or otherwise.
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After the game, Maddox-Williams said his family was in attendance for the game.
“It’s really cool,” Sirianni said. “Any time you can do that in front of your family and friends, it’s awesome. He made a really nice play on the ball and a great return.”
Ricks had a couple of nice sequences, including two plays with sticky coverage notably against Colts’ starting receivers Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce. Ricks was credited with a pass breakup against Pierce and also logged three total tackles. The former five-star cornerback out of Alabama has an intriguing physical profile with long arms and adequate speed, but he faces an uphill battle to make the roster because of his lack of versatility to bump inside at the slot, where things are thinner.
Sermon finished with 30 yards and a touchdown, sprung by a split-zone block from Arnold on the team’s opening drive. Coming into the game, Sermon was firmly the fifth running back on a roster that will likely carry just four onto the initial 53. Perhaps the Eagles view his upside highly enough to keep him on the team, but it would likely require leaving Rashaad Penny or Boston Scott off the initial roster.
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VanSumeren led the team with an eye-popping 17 combined tackles, showing off the athleticism that enticed the Eagles to sign him as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State.
As far as players who hurt their stock, Brooks, Josh Sills, and Joseph Ngata stand out. Sills wasn’t featured in the first group of offensive linemen who played the entire first half. In the second half, he allowed pressure on multiple snaps at left guard. Ngata was targeted six times, second-most on the team, but only managed two catches for 32 yards and Brooks had the aforementioned drop that may have cost the Eagles a touchdown.
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Elliott excels
Jake Elliott, one of the few actual contributors in uniform for the finale, is in regular-season form.
The 28-year-old kicker hit 59- and 52-yard field goals and was perfect on extra points as well. Elliott went 5-for-6 on kicks of 50 yards or greater last year and had a long of 56, so Thursday’s showing suggests he’s on track to stay effective even from the longer distances.
Safety first
The Eagles defense started the night with Justin Evans and Terrell Edmunds patrolling the back end of the secondary, suggesting the two have a slight leg up on the depth chart for the second safety spot alongside Reed Blankenship.
Third-round rookie Sydney Brown played most of the second quarter with K’Von Wallace and got snaps in the second half as well.
Blankenship was the only safety on the roster with the night off. Evans has come on as a legit contender for the spot next to the second-year undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee State. His first-team reps progressively increased in the last week of camp, although Edmunds and Brown have still been firmly in the mix.
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