The Eagles could well escape week 5 sat on top of the NFC East, it’s that simple. With both the Eagles and the Saints currently on 1-3 records, this game certainly has a desperation factor for both teams..but the Eagles are going to need some big game performances to come out with a win. Here are the three players who could well provide the spark to light the fire.
Nelson Agholor:
We said it last week and we will say it this week. Agholor is absolutely key to the success of the Eagles Offense. Through weeks 1-3 he took the most snaps of any receiver, was marked by Revis the entire game against the Jets and hauled in a spectacular one handed catch against the Redskins.
His ball security hasn’t been amazing and he has had a couple of drops..but his ability to beat Corners off the line and run routes to perfection is unprecedented. With the Saints secondary having already given up over a thousand passing yards, it’s clear that they struggle defending against the deep pass. Agholor is still very much an unknown quantity but he has proven countless times this season that he can get open down the field..expect some more stunning plays from the USC product against the Saints.
Malcolm Jenkins:
Playing against his former team, Jenkins comes into week five in arguably the best form of his career. He’s making plays all over the field, forcing fumbles and already has close to half the tackles he amassed last year..and he’s only played four games.
Drew Brees has been playing very conservatively until this stage but the elite slinger may be looking to target a very young Eagles secondary. With a lack of pass rush and the running game eliminated there will be a lot of pressure on the Eagles secondary this week..but I have a hunch Jenkins will pick up his first interception of the year.
Jenkins has become a leader of the secondary and with the Defense being on the field for so long, has began to establish a real dominance as a Safety. Brees is going to have his work cut out for him throwing against someone that could well know his every move after playing with him for so long. Expect a big game from Malcolm Jenkins this week.
DeMarco Murray:
Yep, we’re calling it (breaking the internet for the second week in a row) DeMarco Murray is finally going to have a big game. Murray has had a vastly disappointing season so far, currently being held for 47 yards off of 29 carries. There’s a variety of reasons for this and reasons that we have reported a million times over. But there’s an incline of improvement to not be underestimated.
In the first game, the running game was completely invisible..Bradford threw the ball over 50 times. In week 2 it was there but moving backwards due to the team trying to run the same style that saw Murray claim a rushing title last season..but with the Offensive Line being so weak it was never going to work. A week 3 injury saw a back to basics look for the Eagles…and it worked and then in week 4 they sort of mixed both worlds with one big play and a game of mediocrity.
This saw Murray take to the media claiming he wanted to see more of the ball. Chip was quick to say that there’s essentially no point running the same play 22 times for zero yards..which brings us to our reasoning.
Ryan Mathews exploded against the Jets who have given up over 300 rushing yards. It’s the secondary and the linebackers that are so intimidating, with the front seven proving to be easy for the Eagles to force off the edge to allow Mathews to attack in an east/west style.
We saw a glimpse of what Murray could do from under center last week and now I think we will get the full package. If I’m Chip, I’ve pulled DeMarco up after the presser and said “if you want more carries, you run our way”. Murray began to experiment with some sideways running last week and it almost worked…but coming up against a Saints Defense that has given up almost 500 yards on the rush (avg 120 per game), then all the signs are pointing to a DeMarco Murray breakout.
Not only that but with Sam Bradford drawing the media into respecting the passing game, it could occupy the Defensive gameplan of New Orleans..leaving Murray to pick apart a weak D-Line with a secondary focused on defending the pass. He may not rush for 300 yards or pick up 4 touchdowns…but there will be a significant improvement to Murray’s game this week.
