It wasn't pretty, but it was a win.

The Doug Pederson era got underway Thursday night with a 17-9 preseason victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was everything you might expect from a preseason opener: sloppy, boring, and full of guys who will probably be working at your local Shoprite in a couple weeks. But, hey, Eagles football is back, and that's all that matters. Here's 11 observations I made throughout the course of the game:

1. Nelson Agholor Needs To Step Up

When the Eagles made Agholor the 20th overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, fans were expecting the second coming of Jeremy Maclin; instead, Agholor was essentially non-existent last season, accumulating only 283 yards on 23 receptions his rookie year. It was absolutely crucial for him to show some sign of improvement in the preseason opener, but he looked no different than he had last year— Agholor didn’t record a single reception. He couldn’t get any separation against defensive backs, and he seemed totally disinterested in blocking when the ball wasn’t coming his way— the poor play is one thing, but it’s unacceptable to not block. If Agholor keeps this up, it won’t be long before he’s labelled a major bust.

2. And The Rest Of The Receiving Corps Are Who We Thought They Were

There’s no need to rehash how awful the Eagles receivers were last season. In fact, if you watched the opener tonight you would’ve thought you were watching a replay of one of last year’s games. Receivers were falling over themselves trying to cut back and there was a plethora of dropped passes. Fans were booing backup quarterback Chase Daniel for holding onto the ball too long, but who was he supposed to throw it to? No one could get any separation. New additions Chris Givens and Reuben Randle were no shows, and the most productive wideout proved to be Paul Turner. Yeah, Paul Turner. Who the hell is that?

3. The Offensive Line Is Far Worse Than We Ever Could Have Imagined

The Eagles are going to be in serious trouble if Lane Johnson winds up serving a ten game suspension for a positive drug test. And pray to the football gods that the aging Jason Peters can stay healthy, at least for one more season. Their potential replacements— Dennis Kelly and Andrew Gardner, respectively— were absolutely horrendous against the Bucs. And that’s an understatement. I truly have no words to describe their play. These guys are not NFL-caliber players, and it’s likely at least one of them will start a majority of the games this year. It’s truly rare that an offensive lineman stands out for being just this bad and the Eagles happened to have two of them playing in the same game. Even if Peters and Johnson can play, it’s still possible Gardner serves as the starting left guard for the Eagles this season; his competition, rookie Isaac Seumalo, didn’t exactly light the world on fire Thursday night, either.

4. Eric Rowe Might Already Be A Bust

The first two rounds of the 2015 draft were not kind to the Eagles. Agholor’s struggles were discussed above, and Eric Rowe didn’t look much better last season. But, unlike Agholor, Rowe showed flashes of the potential he was said to possess exiting the draft. Unfortunately, the transition to Jim Schwartz’s defense doesn’t seem to be agreeing with the second-year corner. He struggled mightily in coverage, and it’s easy to see why he’s slipped to fifth on the depth chart. He’ll have to show something during the remainder of this preseason, or else he might rarely see the field at all this year.

5. The Secondary As A Whole Was Disappointing At Best

Following an impressive training camp, everyone was eager to see how Jalen Mills would perform in an actual game; the results were disappointing to say the least. The 7th rounder out of LSU struggled in coverage and took poor angles to ball carriers. It was his first pro game, but one would have hoped to have seen a bit more out of the rookie. Expectations were also high for former Bills’ cornerback Leodis McKelvin, but he didn’t look much better than Mills. The Eagles’ defensive backs simply seemed confused as Jameis Winston continuously picked apart their zone coverage and were only spared by Tampa pulling their first teamers.

6. Barner And Reynolds: Preseason Warriors

I’ve been saying this for two preseasons now: Kenjon Barner can play. Relegated to fourth string last season, Barner only recorded 28 rushes, but he averaged 4.4 yards-per-attempt. Tonight he had 35 yards on 7 carries, and, should the oft-injured Ryan Mathews once again find himself unable to play, I imagine Barner would get a significant amount of work splitting time with Darren Sproles. He also had a beautiful 47-yard kickoff return, although I think the return man’s job is Josh Huff’s to lose (Huff himself had a nice 39-yard return).

Reynolds led the team in tackles with 7, including one for a loss. He had an impressive preseason last year, too, as I recall, and actually found his way into six regular season games— including three starts. He’s nothing more than a depth piece, but I can’t deny he’s put together a couple impressive preseasons thus far.

7. The Kicker’s Job Is Caleb Sturgis’ To Lose

Now, I can't make any sense of this. Sturgis was pretty awful for the Birds last season; he was only on the team because Pro-Bowler Codey Parkey suffered a season ending injury. Now that Parkey is apparently healthy, it seems strange that Sturgis is first on the depth chart. Pederson must really like Sturgis, or Parkey still isn’t quite right— and should the latter be true, I really hope the Eagles pick up a new kicker before Week One.

8. Fletcher Cox Is Ready To Earn His Money

Cox signed a 6-year, $102 million contract extension this offseason, and, boy, does he already look worth every cent. I’ve been waiting all offseason to see what Cox could do in Jim Schwartz’s system, and he did not disappoint Thursday night, recording a sack and fumble recovery in limited action. Back in a 4-3, Cox will wreak havoc in backfields all season long, and I fully expect him to establish himself as the best 4-3 defensive tackle in the NFL.

9. The Defense Is Susceptible To Screens

The Wide 9 System Jim Schwartz likes to employ is great for rushing the passer— it’s not so great against screens. Tampa Bay was arguably the best screen team in the NFL last season, and tonight they capitalized on the Eagles’ aggressiveness. Screen passes against the Wide 9 force linebackers to make plays, and the Eagles linebackers just couldn’t cut it. With their lack of depth at the position, this should be a major area of concern for Schwartz heading into the season.

10. Carson Wentz Was Impressive

The stats ain’t great; 3.71 yards-per-attempt is actually flat-out awful. But, in this case, the stats don’t tell the whole story. Carson Wentz looked really solid Thursday night. Sure, you want the second overall pick into the draft to look good against third and fourth stringers— if he didn’t, that would be concerning— but I was simply wow’d as Wentz, just into the game, avoided some serious pressure, stepped up in the pocket, and fired a completion to Zach Ertz on the run; that was a big-time throw. He had some issues with his release point, as a couple balls sailed on him, including an ugly interception in the red zone, but that’s something I expect him to iron out. He continuously stepped up into the pocket in the face of pressure— other young quarterbacks might have shied away from such big hits— and was quite impressive avoiding the rush. I wasn’t a believer in Wentz leading up to the draft, but he sure showed me something tonight. This kid has all the potential in the world to be a star.

11. The Fans Are In Midseason Form

One game— a preseason game, mind you— and a victory at that, but if you were to ask the fans, the season’s already over. Bradford sucks; Daniel is worse; Pederson is like Andy Reid, except with worse clock management skills; this is the worst offensive line in NFL history (granted, I wouldn’t be surprised if this one proved true); WE’RE NEVER GONNA WIN A SUPERBOWL!!!

Just calm down, Eagles Twitter. It’ll be alright. This is a transition year, and the team’s heading in the right direction post-Chip. Hell, it’s not even out of the question that they could challenge for the NFC East title. Stop bitching about Chase Daniel— it’s not his fault his receivers suck. Go get some cheesesteaks, Tastycakes, whatever, find some Dawkins highlights on Youtube, and just enjoy yourselves. After all, it's football season.