The Philadelphia Eagles are certainly looking like the best and most complete team in football. A matchup on the road against the New York Giants was anything but a competitive contest when the Eagles blew out their NFC East rivals 48-22.
The win locked up a playoff berth for the Eagles for the second consecutive year, with thoughts of a much better idea on the horizon.
Was there anyone who played poorly in a dominant win like that? Absolutely, and let’s take a look at who stood out and struggled on Sunday.
Stock Up: Miles Sanders & A.J. Brown
The Eagles haven’t had a 1,000-yard receiver and rusher in the same year since the 2014 season. On Sunday, the Eagles finally matched that total when Miles Sanders and A.J. Brown both totaled 1,000 yards rushing and receiving respectively.
Sanders set a new career-high in yards in a single game with 144 and two scores. Brown on the other hand tallied a touchdown catch (his 10th) with 70 yards on four catches.
Philadelphia is also on pace to have two 1,000-yard receivers with DeVonta Smith just over 200 yards away.
Stock Down: K’Von Wallace
The Eagles’ defense as a whole was excellent on Sunday. The defensive line recorded seven sacks, they gave up less than 200 yards passing, and were an absolute force all game.
That doesn’t mean they were perfect though. After Reed Blankenship suffered an ankle injury, K’Von Wallace was tasked as the replacement.
It wasn’t pretty.
Wallace gave up a deep pass to Darius Slayton and looked loss on several defensive series. That can’t happen again if the Eagles are expecting to be a really good football team. If Wallace continues to struggle like he did Sunday, don’t be surprised if the Eagles start looking into the free-agent market.
Stock Up: Brandon Graham
Speaking of the defensive line earlier, seven sacks against the Giants’ poor offensive line is certainly something we’ve come to expect from the team that is second in the league in sacks.
It’s even better that the longest-tenured Philadelphia sports athlete was a key reason for that.
If Graham plays like he did today, not only could the Eagles have four players with 10 sacks on the season, but an argument could be made to bring Graham back next season.
Stock Down: Injuries
The Eagles have been a healthy team, for the most part, this season. Most of the injuries they sustained are all on players who expect to return this season. That seemed to change on Sunday.
There hasn’t been any word on the severity of any of these injury concerns, but the Eagles have shown that they desperately need the top seed to give their older veterans more rest for a run at a Super Bowl.
Stock Up: Boston Scott
The Giants killer stepped up in a big way once again facing the G-Men. Scott didn’t really see much playing time early in the game but still found a way to make his presence felt. Scott averaged over 40 yards per kick return on special teams, while later scoring a touchdown (his 8th against New York) in his seventh game against the Giants.
The Eagles’ punt and kick return unit as a whole has looked much better over the last couple of weeks and a big reason for that is because of the job Boston Scott has done so far this season.
AP Photo/Bryan Woolston
