PREVIEW – Week 5: Three Keys to the Eagles Beating the New York Jets
A week after a disastrous performance against the Lions, the Eagles bounced back with a 34-27 win in Green Bay. Now, with the Cowboys having lost as well, the birds sit back one game behind the NFC East crown, with a chance to make up more ground this upcoming week.
An 0-3 Jets team comes to Lincoln Financial Field for a Week 5 matchup, while the Cowboys go up against a pumped-up Aaron Rodgers and the Packers coming off of a frustrating loss.
Note that the Eagles and Cowboys have a date with each other in Dallas on October 20th on Sunday Night Football. Both teams could very well come into that game having equal records, making that matchup even more anticipating.
New York Jets
Offense
One of six winless teams, the Jets are severely underperforming to their expectations, partly due to injuries/health issues. The most notable missing player is Sophmore quarterback, Sam Darnold, who has not played a snap since Week 1, after which he contracted mononucleosis. His replacement, Trevor Siemian, also got hurt, after suffering a gruesome season-ending injury in week 2 against the Browns. For the past week-and-a-half, the Jets have been rolling with Luke Falk under center, a sixth-round pick in 2018 who just made his NFL regular-season debut.
The rest of the Jets offense is mostly cluttered with average players, except for, of course, 3-time pro-bowler Le’Veon Bell. Still, his addition has not made a difference to the offense, as they have only totaled 34 points through 3 games, consisting of just one touchdown.
Defense
The Jets defense, on the other hand, is certainly capable of being special. Not only do they have 3 first-round picks on the defensive side of the ball, they also added star linebacker CJ Mosely this past off-season. Unfortunately, though, even the defense has not been immune to injuries. This year’s first-round selection Quinnen Williams has been out since week 1 with an ankle injury, along with CJ Mosely, who has been nursing a groin injury since the same week. Although they have been getting torched in the passing game, giving up an average of 286.7 yards a game (5th worst), they are holding the opposition’s run game to just 88.7 yards (8th best).
Eagles
Offense
Looking at the Eagles, the offense is getting healthier by the week, with both Alshon Jeffery and Dallas Goedert coming back for last Thursday’s game, and DeSean Jackson set to return soon. Even if he is not healthy enough to go up against the Jets, he will almost certainly be good to go for the Vikings game two weeks from now.
Defense
For the defense, however, not much can be said the same. Depth is dwindling all across the board, starting with the defensive line. With Malik Jackson and Timmy Jernigan already out, the line has not performed as it has been used to performing, with very limited pressure on the opposition. The Eagles have totaled just 3 sacks in 4 games, ranking dead last in the league. Along with the line, the secondary has been absolutely battered. After Ronald Darby hurt his hamstring against the Lions, both Sidney Jones and Avonte Maddox left the game against Green Bay. Maddox, of course, took a scary hit to the head on the last drive from Andrew Sendejo but was fortunately deemed ok enough to travel back with the team.
For the time being, it looks like he will only be week-to-week. It’s also important to note that Jalen Mills and Cre’Veon Le’Blanc are still on the sidelines injured, although their return will come sooner than later. The run-stop has been the only glimmer of hope on defense, giving up an average of only 62.0 yards a game (4th best).
Keys to Victory
1) Stuff Le’Veon
Even with a decimated defense, I’m not too worried about the Jets offense mustering much of anything. At the same time, however, Le’Veon is a dangerous player that can put the offense on his shoulders. The run stop will need to be at a higher level this week, as Bell has the ability to make up for the lack of run blocking with his patience and vision.
2) Keep on Pounding
How fun was it to finally watch a fully functional offense after so many games? Feeding Jordan Howard unlocked a completely new level of potential for this offense and they are just getting started. Yes, the field was shortened on three of the scoring drives, but what was huge was that they put the ball in the endzone every time instead of settling for 3. This will be a 30 point offense every week if Doug keeps calling Howard’s name, and I’m sure he will after seeing his offense’s dominance against an elite Packers defense.
3) Play to Win
The first 3 weeks were so hard to watch because this team just played to not lose. In 2017, we saw a team that was playing to completely dominate their opponent. We saw that again against Green Bay, and if the defense had been any better than it was, that game would have been a blowout. The Eagles cannot let the Jets keep hanging around; they need to throttle them.
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