Colts @ Eagles
Final Score: Colts 27, Eagles 13
Writer: Adam Sloate (@MrAdster99 on Twitter)
Anthony Richardson got the starting nod and the first two quarters tonight against a big ol’ bowl of Eagles backups, but it was only in the second half that Indianapolis was able to pull away and put the Birds to bed.
The Indianapolis offense continued building around their young quarterback, giving him plenty of reps at game speed. With Richardson under center and Shane Steichen behind the play calling, Indianapolis was able to run the ball well, sticking a pair of running touchdowns on the board in the first half. Richardson left a bit to be desired through the air, completing less than half of his passes. However, the Eagles chose to respect Richardson’s rushing ability and left some soft spots in the middle of the field for Richardson and his receivers to exploit.
On the opposite side, Eagles QB Tanner McKee didn’t look great in what seemed to be an extended audition for McKee as QB3. After the first two preseason games, there was some thought that McKee might displace Marcus Mariota as Jalen Hurts‘ backup, but it appears that has been put to rest with Mariota’s usage and McKee’s underwhelming performance in this game. There’s not much else to glean from the Eagles’ offense tonight, since all of Philadelphia’s starters and even several depth options were in their street clothes for the matchup.
Four Up
- Evan Hull – Ran tough and looked solid in pass protection
- Anthony Richardson – Strong as a runner, difficult to take down
- Jake Elliott – Drilled multiple 50+ yarders in the first half
- Deon Cain – Made a sweet catch early to preserve a scoring drive
One Down
- Trey Sermon – Didn’t impress despite carrying the ball 16 times for the Eagles
Indianapolis Colts
| Preseason Week 1 | Preseason Week 2 |
Quarterback
Anthony Richardson: 6/17, 78 yards | 5 carries, 38 yards
Richardson took every snap in the first half as the Colts hope to get him as much game action as possible before the season begins. Richardson was a very strong runner, shrugging off tackles left and right to rack up the yardage. He had plenty of room to run early on, as the Eagles didn’t generate a lot of pressure on him. The success in the run game early forced the Eagles to respect his running threat, and the Colts were able to move the chains via some easy throws in the middle of the field.
Notes
- With a lot of clean pockets, Richardson found Michael Pittman fairly regularly in the middle of the field; they seemed to have a solid connection together.
- Ran hard on designed runs and showed mobility to escape the pocket and extend plays.
- Thanks to his unique size/speed blend, Richardson was able to extend a couple of broken plays and turn negative plays into zeroes or positive gains.
Missed Opportunities
- Once the Eagles started to “bring the heat” with some heavy blitzes, Richardson looked uncomfortable. He didn’t dispose of the ball quickly and was forced into some awkward throws; Richardson never really punished the Eagles for bringing extra defenders forward.
Gardner Minshew II: 9/11, 102 yards, 1 TD | 1 carry, 2 yards
With Richardson pulled, Minshew got plenty of playing time in the second half and led the Colts on a nice drive to open the third quarter. He did what you’d expect an NFL backup to do, in that he hit the easy stuff and took care of the ball. Minshew will be one of the better insurance policies this season.
Sam Ehlinger: 6/8, 86 yards, 1 INT | 2 carries, 10 yards
Ehlinger didn’t dazzle much in his fourth-quarter action, and the bulk of his yardage came on a terrific catch downfield by Jason Huntley, which I cannot find for the life of me online.
His INT came on what appeared to be a miscommunication between Ehlinger and Kenyan Drake, and Tyreek Maddox-Williams — whose last name is a combination of defensive players on the Eagles — snatched the easy pick:
We'll take that, @tyreekwilliams_ !#INDvsPHI | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/BTi1Jrxw9W
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 25, 2023
Running Back
Evan Hull: 2 carries, 25 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 13 yards
Evan Hull looked like a pretty solid rotational piece and backup to Jonathan Taylor tonight. Hull ran with toughness, shrugging off some solid contact early in some plays, and had some pretty decent speed/quickness to back it up. He also protected Anthony Richardson with that same toughness, which helps provide some optimism that Hull can take on a solid role in the RB room if Jonathan Taylor is moved.
Video Evidence of Evan Hull taking someone’s lunch money.
— Landon Oliver (@Landon3MR) August 25, 2023
Notes
- Hull got the vast majority of carries between the red zones It was only once the Colts got inside the Eagles’ 10-yard line that Deon Jackson got touches. Jackson also had a carry on 3rd-and-long inside the Colts’ 10.
Kenyan Drake: 5 carries, 21 yards | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 22 yards, 1 TD
The Colts are the latest team to try the Kenyan Drake thing, which is unfortunate for those hoping for a monster season from Evan Hull or one of the other RBs in the room. Drake was signed about 2 weeks ago and saw limited action in the second Colts preseason game but was bumped up a bit in terms of workload for this game. Drake was fine in his action and is probably not going to be appreciably different this season than he’s been in prior seasons. It looks like Drake will cut into the RB workload if Jonathan Taylor opts not to return to the Colts.
For his TD catch, Drake was about as wide-open as a receiver can be in the NFL and waltzed into the end zone after the pass from Minshew.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Kylen Granson: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 25 Yards
Granson may have had only a couple of targets and receptions but I came away impressed with his athleticism and connection with Anthony Richardson. The one that comes to mind is this play:
Inject this into my VEINS!!!! This is a good throw from Anthony Richardson to Kylen Granson. He did miss the hot read below to Josh Downs, but still a good completion and letting it rip. #ForTheShoe pic.twitter.com/Yi9Lu0DmUY
— CLew 🏈🏀⚾️🥊 (@droppedballspod) August 25, 2023
Granson nearly had a third catch on a play where Richardson avoided a sack and tried to feed Granson for a first down but the ball ultimately touched the ground and was ruled incomplete. I wouldn’t be surprised if Granson starts to get a few more looks from Richardson during the regular season, as it seems like Richardson trusted him in tight spots.
Michael Pittman Jr.: 5 Targets, 2 Receptions, 24 Yards
Pittman saw the team lead in targets despite playing for approximately a quarter and a half. His two completions came on nice, easy throws in the middle of the field, which opened up thanks to Richardson’s running ability. Pittman briefly left the game with an injury but was able to return shortly thereafter, so the injury doesn’t appear particularly serious.
Philadelphia Eagles
| Preseason Week 1 | Preseason Week 2 |
Quarterback
Tanner McKee: 19/34, 158 Yards | 1 carry, 5 yards
We finally have an answer to the question, “What would it look like if a tree had a little bit of arm strength and tried to play football?” It’s unlikely that this was McKee’s audition for the backup QB spot, despite Marcus Mariota’s preseason passing struggles. However, if it was, McKee didn’t do so much to inspire confidence in his abilities to become a solid backup. He hit some of his spots but also misplaced some throws that should’ve been completions. McKee will likely start the season as QB3 and would probably only move up with some particularly uninspiring efforts from Marcus Mariota.
Notes
- McKee made a particularly beautiful floating pass over a defender when out in space. Generally, McKee seemed adequate when plays allowed him to get out of the pocket.
- He hit the easy completions in the middle of the field as well.
Missed Opportunities
- McKee struggled to hit receivers further downfield and along the sideline, especially when the targets were more than a handful of yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
- Since he’s not a particularly mobile QB, McKee struggled to extend plays and didn’t have a lot of capacity for improvisation on broken plays. He was getting run down by just about everyone on defense.
Marcus Mariota: 1/2, 21 Yards
Not much to see here. Since Mariota was only used on the first drive of the game, we can assume he has secured the backup QB job despite a shaky couple of preseason games.
Ian Book: 11/15, 80 Yards
The box score says Book completed well over half his passes but it sure didn’t seem that way during the game. Eagle-eyed box score watchers will note that Book’s completed passes averaged 5.3 yards per completion; this is primarily due to the fact that Book completed a significant number of passes at or near the line of scrimmage on routes breaking for the sidelines.
He still managed to duck into a sack on his first drive, showing the same lack of awareness he’s shown in prior preseason games.
Running Back
Trey Sermon: 5 Carries, 21 Yards, TD | 4 Targets, 4 Receptions, 17 Yards
It’s not often you see a running back get this kind of work in a preseason game. Sermon was the only running back getting carries tonight but there’s probably nothing to extrapolate from this performance. Sermon was uninspiring as a runner because he struggled to create running lanes on his own–he merely took what the line and the play could give him, failing to break or miss many tackles. He is also the 5th running back on the depth chart and is unlikely to make the team, so this was more of an audition for other teams than for the Eagles.
Notes
- Sermon was utilized a bit in the passing game. The targets weren’t anything special but it was nice to see that he was able to handle the ball through the air. Across all regular season action, Sermon has seen a grand total of 4 targets; he had more than that tonight.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Note that most of these guys are likely not going to see any significant game action this year, as the Eagles sat WRs 1-5 on the depth chart for the entire game tonight. I would not expect the players down the box score to make the team this season or receive any significant fantasy attention.
Deon Cain: 9 targets, 6 receptions, 62 yards
Cain showed solid chemistry with Mariota and McKee. In fact, Cain made a nice catch on a pass from Mariota to preserve the Eagles’ opening drive on 3rd-and-9:
WATCH: Former @USFLStallions WR Deon Cain makes a contested catch in traffic for the Eagles on 3rd and 9, keeping the drive alive – which ultimately led to a TD. @cainera1_ won #USFL Championship MVP in 2023, posting 3 scores in the game. pic.twitter.com/ken8czvsqK
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenPFN) August 25, 2023
Other than that, Cain found some nice soft spots in the Colts’ coverage and made the most of his opportunities tonight. He can be a decent depth piece in a deep WR room.
Freddie Swain: 8 Targets, 6 Receptions, 33 Yards
Swain was the main beneficiary of McKee/Book’s inability to throw the ball more than a couple of yards downfield. He racked up the targets primarily on short slant routes pushing towards the sidelines. He wasn’t particularly notable on the targets he saw.