Pats show depth in preseason win over Eagles

For those who still don't know me...

Preseason for me is just like the NFL players, coaches, refs and staff. It's a way for me to get my thoughts and reviews of the game on a certain level. Now for those who do know me, they will tell you that I have a saying around here during this time of the year.

Paper or plastic?

This is preseason, and that little saying is to let you know that most of these guys you're watching will not be around when season to opens. And for those who left school early or didn't major in anything important, they'll be sent out into the real world with the rest of us working folks. So the next time you see that big guy delivering pizzas in his H-2, ask him what position he used to play.

Friday night was the first of four tune-ups for the Eagles and Pats, but the rainfall shortened the chance of seeing any of the starters for most of the night.

The Patriots coaching staff quickly ushered the possible starters off the field after two series and a nice TD drive.

The Eagles did the same, but head coach Andy Reid certainly could not be happy with what he saw from his starters, as they drew several multiple penalties (four plays in a row) that at one time backed them up deep in their own red zone.

It didn't end there though, as the second and third cores also made errors.

Overall, the penalties cost the Eagles 109 yards on 14 penalties in the Pats 24-6 win, and the only thing I saw working for the Eagles was the play of their RB Reno Mahe (10/52) who is in his second year out of BYU.

The Pats first core showed some crispness during their short stint on both sides of the ball with QB Tom Brady (3/4, 31 yds) ripping and impressive nine-yard TD pass to WR David Patten who made a sweet end zone move on his defender to make the grab.

RB Corey Dillon (23 yds) had five carries before coming out of the game with a 13-yard run up the middle that set up the TD pass.

WR Troy Brown didn't have one reception, fumbled and then recovered one of his two punt returns, but he did pick up two tackles last night as he played some time at CB bringing down WR Freddie Mitchell with ILB Roman Phifer on one play and then a solo tackle on TE LJ Smith, who lists at 6' 3", 238 pounds.

The Pats defense annoyed QB Donovan McNabb (6/11 32 yds), WR Terrell Owens (3/14) and the rest of the receiving corps as they shut down routs, and sent all types of blitzes.

A bright spot on the Pats D was the play of LB Justin Kurpeikis. This guy is three years out of Penn State, and didn't fit well with the Steelers for two years. Last night he had six solo tackles and three assisted tackles leading the defensive pack.

FS Eugene Wilson (4 st's), LB Larry Izzo (3 st's), DT Dan Klecko(3 st/1 at) had a good night, and also played FB for a few downs.

By halftime, both teams had their second and third cores working the field, and if teams out there plan on studying the Pats, they are going to realize that what got them to the Super Bowl last year will probably be the same thing that may get them back to promised land this year, and that is D-E-P-T-H.

The Pats are deep, and I don't mean second string deep I'm talking to guys that may make an impact if they stick around.

QB Rohan Davey(8/15, 70 yds) impressed everyone over in Europe, and when he took the field last night started out sloppy, but once he got his feel Rohan showed why he will be the number two guy on this team after throwing to TD passes to rookie WR's Mike Jennings a five-yard TD and Ricky Bryant with a 23-yard reception.

RB's Mike Cloud 17/45) and Patrick Pass (7/42)got in some time as Kevin Faulk sat out due to injury, but on the horizon was the smash mouth play of rookie RB Malaefou MacKenzie out of USC who laid the hit of the night on a defender as they tried to make a text book tackle.

Put it this way... MacKenzie covered the ball, put his head down and delivered a hit so hard it had players on the sideline shivering. Other rookies like LB Quinn Dorsey (3 t's)got noticed with his sack on third stringer QB Andy Hall, DE Marquise Hill (2 t's), and second-year man, WR Mike Jennings, had a 25-yard kick return.

Overall, the Pats starters looked crisp, and if they continue to build on what needs to be worked on they will take the AFC East.

Now I've never gone ahead and made a solid prediction this early on, but I promise you that barring injury the Pats should take the AFC East because they have a running threat, they replaced the players they lost as we saw last night with DT Keith Traylor, and depth.

What I also did see last night was probably one of the best acquisitions the Pats made in the off-season and that would be P Josh Miller, who got the second biggest ovation after CB Ty Law's introduction.

Josh punted six times averaging 48.6 yards. His longest was a 56 yarder, and to be honest you really don't want to see your punter on the field a lot, but this really affects the play and stamina of the defense.

When you don't have a solid punter your defense now has to work even harder because opposing teams usually end up within striking distance of your red zone meaning key field goals or blown coverage's that lead to tying or game winning TD's.

With a good punter you can back up offenses and dictate their game plan with the some stops or losses within the first two downs.

Also when teams are backed up in their own red zones against aggressive defenses like the Pats, they tend to make mental or physical errors costing them dearly.

It would be nice to see how many teams self destruct against the Pats this year when faced with those various situations.

As for this match up, we may have been given a glimpse of what could very well be this year's Super Bowl match up.

The Pats right now are the number one team in the AFC until they lose that crown while the Eagles were one game away from being that number one NFC team.

So the Eagles went out and addressed their issues by acquiring WR Terrell Owens, DE Jevon Kearse, and OLB Dhani Jones.

None of these guys are pushovers, and they will come to play once Sundays roll around.

I look for the Eagles to make a serious run, but this year Atlanta's success may come out of a running attack after acquiring a key member from the Broncos coaching staff.

Then there's Detroit, as they are being touted as the team who drafted the best players available.

Time will tell.

Hit me up: sinista1@msn.com