The Eagles Need Jordan Davis
It’s been a game and a half since Jordan Davis’ injury against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Eagles are already struggling on the Defensive Line.
They held the Steelers to 41 Rushing Yards on 11 attempts in the opening half. After Davis’ injury with 3:35 left in the 2nd half. Things went down hill for the Run Defence. In the 2nd half, the Steelers racked up 103 Rushing Yards on only 13 more attempts. A marginal difference without the Eagles 1st round Rookie on the field.
After the Steelers, the Eagles played the Texans on a short week. And Jordan Davis’ presence was definitely missed. A Texans team that was missing starting Wide Receivers Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins, didn’t have many options when it came to passing against James Bradberry and Darius Slay, so their best form of offence? Dameon Pierce.
Pierce entered Thursday night’s game with 121 Rushing Attempts and 539 Yards in the 7 games the Texans had played prior to their match against the Eagles. Pierce was able to pick up 139 Rushing Yards on 27 attempts. Crazy numbers for an Eagles team that had been able to shut down Najee Harris, Travis Etienne, James Robinson, Dalvin Cook and Antonio Gibson.
It was shades of the season opener against the Lions. Where D’Andre Swift was able to pick up 144 rushing yards, including a 50 yard run and 1 touchdown. Almost as if the short week left Jonathan Gannon unprepared for the game ahead. If this issue isn’t addressed by the Commanders game on Monday night. The Eagles could be in for a difficult stretch.
Upcoming Difficulties
The Eagles upcoming 5 games are against some of the best Running Backs in the league. Including 2 in the top 3 Rushing Leaders, namely Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley. That’s just the start of their woes, they’ll also be seeing Aaron Jones, A.J. Dillon, Antonio Gibson and potentially Jonathan Taylor. If opposing defensive coordinators do their homework before they play the Eagles, the defence will seriously have to step their game up.
Derrick Henry specifically will be a problem in Week 13 when the Titans come to Philly. Picking up 462 Rushing Yards and 4 touchdowns in the Titans last 3 games. While that might be good for my fantasy team, it won’t help the Eagles if they haven’t figured out how to stop the run by then.
Luckily, Jordan Davis was given a 4-6 week timeline that saw him added to IR a week ago. Without any setbacks, the Eagles Defensive Tackle could see a return just before the Titans game. Good news is, Davis was spotted in the locker room. Hopefully all signs lead to the Rookie returning to slow down Derrick Henry in week 13.
‘Tough’ Stretch
The upcoming 4 weeks are arguably the ‘toughest’ part of the Eagles schedule. They can’t control who they play, but I’m sure everyone around the league saw the Packers, Colts and Titans having a better combined record than 11-14-1. While these teams have better records than the Steelers, Texans and Lions. They’re all experiencing some major issues down this stretch of the season.
Washington:
The Eagles racked up 9 sacks against Carson Wentz and the Commanders in Week 3, but this time it will be Taylor Heinicke. Whether or not that changes a 24-8 final outcome from week 3. We’ll find out, but the Eagles offence also looks a lot more dangerous than it did during the start of the season.
Indianapolis:
After the divisional game, they’ll see the Colts who… Are hiring inexperienced Offensive Linemen as the successor to Frank Reich? Sam Ehlinger is still starting for this week, but there’s a potential that Matt Ryan might return from his ‘shoulder’ injury. I’m not sure which side of that coin is better, because they’re both terrible options. But Jonathan Taylor hasn’t had over 100 rushing yards since Week 1. So we’ll see about how scary the Colts will truly be next week.
Green Bay:
Aaron Rodgers also hasn’t been the same Quarterback that just won Back-To-Back MVP awards. Romeo Doubs will be out, while Sammy Watkins and Allen Lazard can’t stay healthy. The Packers running game with Aaron Jones & A.J. Dillon could cause some problems that week if the Eagles don’t tighten up around the line.
Tennessee:
Malik Willis has started the last 2 games, abysmally. He’s got 135 passing yards, with 11 completions on 26 passes. If Ryan Tannehill isn’t playing in 4 weeks the Titans will have no choice but to hand the ball off to Derrick Henry every play. That being said, the Eagles will NEED Jordan Davis in some capacity to help slow down the Rushing Leader himself.
If the Eagles are able to keep winning during this stretch, there’s no doubt they won’t be clinching the 1st seed in the NFC. They’ve got a 1 game lead on the Vikings, and 2 games on the Giants & Cowboys, meaning a faster clinch of the NFC East.
The Eagles won’t play till Monday, but that doesn’t mean you can’t cheer against the Giants and Cowboys on Sunday!
Go Birds
Photo Credit: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images
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Categorized:Eagles