Two weeks in a row now, the Eagles have blown me away. Against two of the top defenses in the entire league, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, the Eagles scored 29 and 28 points respectively. This all happened with two of eleven offensive starters, plus key contributors to the secondary and occasionally the defensive line.
Carson Wentz
For whatever reason, Carson Wentz plays better with a depleted core (or at least one that looks like it). Wentz put the team on his back, and brought them back from an ugly first half deficit (down 17-0 at halftime). The Wentz-Fulgham connection has been deadly, but he was forced to target Jason Croom, Richard Rodgers, and hand the ball off to Boston Scott with Miles Sanders and Zach Ertz out with injuries.
Also, Wentz only has one healthy offensive lineman and Jake Elliott missed a crucial kick for the second week in a row. Wentz didn’t throw an interception for the first time this season, and his receivers dropped a deep ball and late touchdown that arguably would have decided the game.
Travis Fulgham
Who would have thought Travis Fulgham might be Alshon Jeffery’s replacement in the Eagles offense moving forward? In the last three weeks, they’ve played two of the best defenses in the NFL, and another solid one in San Francisco. It feels like this guy is catching nearly everything, including that miracle 4th down 50-50 ball that was a hopeful heave by Carson Wentz late in the 4th quarter.
Fulgham, like Greg Ward last season, has earned a role in the offense moving forward in my opinion. The future of the pass catchers in Philadelphia is reassuring when a guy like Fulgham has come out of nowhere and produced like he has against some of the best defenses in the NFL .
Injuries
Now Miles Sanders and Zach Ertz too! K’Von Wallace also left the game with an injury, so Philadelphia is about as depleted as humanly possible. Luckily, the defense played somewhat better than the offense, keeping them in the game until it found a late spark after early struggles, when the offense managed to not only outscore Baltimore in the second half, but score 22 points in the 4th quarter alone!
I hate to say this, but Philadelphia might be the team to beat in the NFC East, especially with Dak Prescott out for the remainder of the season. Philly’s starting to hit their strides offensively, although defense is still giving up a lot of points but has made some crucial stops at varying points in the season. In Pittsburgh they didn’t, but last Sunday against Baltimore they did late in the game.
Look for Philadelphia to rattle off a couple wins vs. the Giants, a Thursday night game, and against the Cowboys in a Sunday Night Football showdown. After that, Philadelphia has a Week 9 bye, when I’ll take a deep dive into their schedule moving forward. The Eagles are making strides, and they’ll have some momentum soon.
Photo credit: Ceng News
