Why the Howard-Sanders Combo Is Key to the Eagles Success
There have been no secrets that the offense has not been as high powered as we thought they would be at this point of the season due in part of DeSean Jackson’s injury and Nelson Agholor’s slow start to the year.
We’ve seen Carson Wentz throw the ball down the field less and more prone to dumping it down for short 5-7 yard passes. One thing that has been overlooked until this past weekend’s win over the Buffalo Bills: the running game.
We got a glimpse of what the future holds between Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders. The two combined for over 170 yards and two touchdowns between the two (218 yards total as a team, the highest amount in the Doug Pederson era). Yes, Sanders got 65 of his 74 yards on one run, but he showed off the blazing speed we have been waiting to see all year.
These two make the perfect pairing as Howard can be seen as the power back who can run behind Jason Kelce and the rest of the line for those tough yards. Sanders is starting to look like what Darren Sproles has been for years, the type of back to bounce to the outside and catch balls out of the backfield.
Sanders has proven to be the new big player who already has seven plays of over 20 yards (six of them being receptions). He leads all rookies in all-purpose yards with 294 yards rushing, 274 receiving yards, and 283 yards on kickoffs. He’s proven to be the do-it-all player who in good time will develop to be the lead back when he’s ready. The Eagles rushed him into the starting lineup when he really thrives on coming in on third down and being a surprise deep threat for Wentz in the absence of Jackson.
Howard’s power running has helped him lead the team in rushing with 443 yards and five touchdowns. Since taking over as the feature back in the Packers game, we have seen an improvement in the running game and show that he should have been a starter from day one. He’s on his way of hitting his career average of about 1,000 yards per season.
This is why it’s critical that the Eagles build their future more through the offensive line and develop their young backs. Howard is only 24 and Sanders is 22. It only makes sense that the team continues on focusing on running the ball to win games. This season alone, the Eagles are 4-1 when they lead in rushing over their opponents. They threw the ball only 24 times while running 41 times in their 31-13 win over the Bills.
Wentz even commented after the game regarding Sanders’ 65-yard score telling reporters about the two backs on the play, “That [block] was sweet, by the way. The first thing I said to Miles was, ‘You better give your other boy some love on that’ … I can’t say enough good things about those two guys.”
Wentz’s injury history and an ever-evolving offensive line have to lead the team to think more about being a running team. In their Super Bowl title run two years ago, they were ranked third in the league in running yards.
Last year was ugly, to say the least with them ranking just 28th in the same category. So far this season, they’re 13th so that should mean more rushing from Howard and Sanders so they can take the pressure off of their franchise quarterback.
Photo: NBCSports
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Categorized:Eagles