We’re at the midway point of the season and the Eagles are on a much needed Bye week. What better time to take a look at the team’s production through eight weeks, starting with the offense?
Quarterback:
It’s hard not to be impressed with the Eagles quarterback position after eight weeks of football. Nick Foles walked out onto the field against Atlanta with a beaten up offense and was able to start the season off the right way and as things began to dampen, the longing for Carson Wentz heightened. His return was capped with a win against the Colts and since then, we’ve seen a dramatic evolution. Thus far, Wentz has tossed 13 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions, completing a stunning 70% of his passes. He’s also en-route to pass for 30 touchdowns and 5 picks which is just incredible.
Say what you want about the ‘clutch’ argument or the ball security issues the that have seen him cough the ball up when taking big hits, (getting away with it most of the time) but the progression for Wentz has been sublime. Considering he missed the entire offseason while recovering from a torn ACL, an offseason that saw a new offensive coordinator and QB coach, Wentz has shaken off the rust and is back to making Houdini plays each and every week.
He’s not perfect and of course there’s always room for improvement, but Wentz has been statistically even better than he was one year ago, which in itself is insane when you factor in the amount of setbacks endured by the offense and how different things are right now compared to one year ago.
Grade: A-
Running back
Losing Jay Ajayi was a bitter pill to swallow and it’s taken the Eagles a few weeks to find their feet without their featured running back in the picture. Wendell Smallwood and Corey Clement have been inconsistent at best, but a Josh Adams breakout against the Jaguars may at least spark some hope.
What’s a little surprising is that despite what on the surface has been an unbalanced offense and struggling ground game, the Eagles have still totaled 853 yards on the season so far, ranking them 12th in the league. That’s not exactly bad given how much depth and explosiveness they’ve lost and the game against Jacksonville showed there is plenty more to come from this group yet.
There appears to be a strong lack of lateral quickness and agility among the backs which is causing problems on outside runs, however the one area the unit has improved massively is versatility. Wendell Smallwood has caught 15 passes this year for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns. He caught 13 passes throughout the entirety of the 2017 season.
Instead of running the ball inefficiently, Pederson, as illustrated against Carolina, would rather run short passes and get the running backs involved in the passing attack. It’s an interesting concept, but it’s safe to say that Smallwood and the rest of the group have seen a much bigger chunk of targets than expected and that can only be a good thing.
Grade: C
Offensive line
The offensive line has endured a torrid start to the season. Through eight weeks, the line has allowed 63 QB hits and 26 sacks. It’s certainly not a strong look, especially for a line that was labelled the best in Football just one year ago. Protecting a quarterback who is fresh off of rehabbing an ACL tear should obviously be a priority but so far, that hasn’t gone down too well, with Wentz being forced to tap into his Houdini side all too often.
Penalties set the line back massively in the opening few weeks and just when things looked to improve, Lane Johnson and Jason Peters were pulled rom the Jacksonville game with injury. Surprisingly, Seumalo and Vaitai held their own as backup tackles, but missing Johnson, who tore his MCL, is going to be a big loss over the next few weeks.
The potential in that offensive line room never lest and their talent speaks for itself, but somewhere along the line, somebody forgot to pour Mustard on the Hotdog. If the offense is to gain momentum, they have to build on their strong outing against the Jags and rekindle that elite form shown last year. It hasn’t been good enough so far.
Grade: D
Tight end:
Zach Ertz is on pace for a historic season and leads the team in receiving yards through eight weeks. The ultimate security blanket, Ertz has 644 yards, 3 touchdowns and 7 receptions of 20+ yards. Nobody can doubt the sheer dominance of Ertz or the impact its had offensively.
One of the bigger surprises has been Dallas Goedert, who after a few weeks in the dark, has just as many touchdowns as Ertz and 188 yards to his name. Not only that, but the red zone nightmare has proven to be a blocking menace in the run-game and continues to help the offensive line carve open the run with some meaty blocks.
Josh Perkins has produced sporadically, but the team should be seeing the return of Richard Rodgers soon, which may allow even more production from #GoedErtz, with the former Packer taking over in-line blocking duties. The ceiling for this unit is sky-high.
Grade: A
Wide receiver
This is another position that’s tricky to judge because it’s changed so much in eight short weeks. Missing Alshon Jeffery for the opening few weeks, the group then lost Mike Wallace to injury which forced Agholor to channel his inner 2016 Jordan Matthews and pick up the slack.
Talking of Matthews, his return to the offense has been so important when overcoming a severe lack of depth, as proven in week 8 with his 96 yard game. Matthews has been surgical on third downs and a big part of the Eagles offense in moments that matter most.
Alshon Jeffery’s return has been nothing short of spectacular. Whoever doubted his credential as a #1 receiver is going to look very silly at the end of the season, that’s for sure. Jeffery exploded back onto the scene without a nagging shoulder injury and somehow looked even more dangerous. With 341 yards and 4 touchdowns to his name, we can only expect Jeffery’s production to rise with Golden Tate and his YAC ability now being implemented into the offense.
There were a few weeks where the wideouts were almost invisible, but DeAndre Carter and Shelton Gibson have both had fleeting moments of production. It’s hard to really criticize a group that’s had so much adversity to overcome, but the rebound from it has been exceptional.
Grade: B-
Mandatory Credit: Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports
